2025 Theses Master's

Fractured Dialogue and Escalation in Union Negotiations: Chicago Teachers Strike 2019

Geannopulos, Mathilde

This case study examines the 2019 Chicago Teachers Strike through the lens of fragmented communication and its impact on trust, power dynamics, and escalation between the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU). The data comprises press releases, public statements, Op-Eds, concurring/dissenting opinions, and the Neutral Fact-Finding report. This case analyzes how indirect communication and reputation oriented narratives negatively influenced collective bargaining progress and stakeholder engagement. By applying conflict analysis frameworks – Coordinated Management of Meaning, Facework Theory, conflict spiral models – the researcher identifies patterns of escalation, breaches of trust, and power asymmetry. Findings suggest the Mayor Lightfoot, CPS, and CTU leveraged external audiences – students, parents, and Chicago taxpayers, to reinforce their own legitimacy, which often came at the expense of negotiation efficacy. This overarching reliance on public positioning aggravated already strife relational tensions, diverted attention from the most impacted communities (teachers and students), and ultimately prolonged the strike. This study contributes to understanding the interplay between process-based rituals, interpersonal friction, and intentionally co-authored norms of engagement in high-stakes public sector labor disputes. This conflict analysis has implications for negotiation strategy, trust empowerment, and conflict de-escalation in similarly complex organizational contexts.

Keywords: Chicago Teachers Strike 2019; Chicago Public Schools; Chicago Teachers Union; labor negotiations; fragmented communication; power asymmetry; educational equity; social justice; interpersonal friction; conflict spirals; resources disparities; reputation management; process-based initiatives