Dozens of Chicago Public Schools lunchroom workers say they plan to sit down in the street and block downtown traffic Thursday afternoon, as stalled contract talks with the district drag into their 12th month. Organizers are billing the move as civil disobedience aimed at forcing CPS to agree to a $40,000 minimum salary for cooks, attendants, and porters. Workers argue that low pay and shrinking staffs are making it harder to serve fresh meals and keep cafeterias running smoothly during the school day.
Union plans Loop street sit-in
UNITE HERE Local 1, the union representing the lunchroom staff, says members have been bargaining for more than 11 months and will use the sit-in to “sound the alarm” about wages and staffing, according to WBEZ. Organizers say the action will feature a sit-down in the Loop, along with continued pickets at school board meetings to keep pressure on negotiators. The union casts the fight as a push to keep cafeteria jobs viable and to ensure workers can cover basic household bills.
How their pay compares
The Chicago Teachers Union’s most recent contract set a $40,000 minimum for paraprofessionals, a figure that lunchroom workers now cite at the bargaining table. The Sun-Times has noted that increase as a key precedent in district negotiations. CPS also highlights its tentative agreement with SEIU Local 73, which establishes a baseline salary of at least $40,000 for many full-time SEIU members, according to district contract materials. Chicago Public Schools says that deal set the floor for SEIU workers.
Why $40,000 is the line in the sand
Union surveys and reporting spell out why members say a $40,000 floor is nonnegotiable. In a survey last year, 88% of respondents reported having trouble paying for necessities in recent months, and many lunchroom jobs start in the high teens per hour, pay the union calls far short of a living wage, WBEZ reported. The union also points out that lunchroom employees are hourly and do not receive pay during the summer or some holidays, which lowers their annual take-home pay even further.
District leans on budget warning
CPS officials counter that multi-year budget shortfalls limit what the district can commit to in ongoing costs. The district has projected at least a $520 million gap for the coming school year and told board members it proposed changes so that no worker would earn less than $20 an hour by this August, The Sun-Times reported. Union negotiators say the district’s most recent offer, roughly $19 an hour for 2026-27, still leaves many members below what they consider a living wage, and they add that the two sides remain far apart on staffing levels.
Short-staffed kitchens feel the heat
Union data and public reporting show fewer lunchroom positions now than five years ago, a drop organizers say is stretching cafeterias thin. UNITE HERE’s materials and press statements describe declining staffing numbers and say hundreds of positions have been cut or left unfilled, leaving many school kitchens with just one or two workers and raising stress and injury risks on the job. The union also notes that its contract with CPS expired June 30, 2025, and members have been working without a new agreement since then; see the union’s report for details. UNITE HERE Local 1
Thursday’s sit-down is the latest escalation in a campaign that has already featured pickets and tense school board meetings, and union leaders say more actions could follow if talks do not move. CPS has asked a federal mediator to step in to help bring both sides back to the table, and negotiators along with outside labor watchers say mediation can revive stalled talks but offers no guaranteed deal. For now, lunchroom workers say they will keep showing up, in the street and at the table, until they see a wage floor they believe lets them feed their own families along with Chicago’s students.
