During the recent Chicago Teachers Union strike, tens of thousands of CTU members and supporters participated in daily marches. The seven-day strike came on the heels of a downtown rally and march of 6,000 teachers in May and then more than 24,000 members voting in June to authorize a strike.

None of this would have been possible two years ago. The forum's speakers lay out how the structure and tactics of the union's contract campaign laid the foundation to create arguably the strongest union in the city and the strongest teacher's local in the country.

The forum discusses how the CTU transformed their union into a member-driven, activist union that reached out to build community support to fight for the schools Chicago's students deserve. There will be ample time for discussion at the forum, as we seek to involve teachers and labor activists in a discussion about what the Chicago Teachers Union can teach us about how to strengthen the U.S. labor movement.