Teachers at a Chicago charter school won a victory yesterday, prevailing in their attempt to start a union.

With a 73-49 vote, teachers forced management at Civitas Schools to bargain collectively with new union leadership rather than individual teachers. The victory sets a precedent for teachers at other charter schools who want to organize their labor force.

"We are pleased and gratified," says Gail Purkey, spokeswoman for the Illinois Federation of Teachers. "These educators worked hard, and stood strong and solid for a union. Now they're going to have one."

Civitas operates three of a dozen campuses of Chicago International Charter School, and about 120 teachers there are eligible to join a union. In April, a majority of them filed a petition with a state labor board to bargain collectively.

The Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board certified their union, but Civitas administrators took their case to the National Labor Relations Board instead. The administrators argued that the charter school is a private, rather than public, employer, and that its jurisdiction therefore falls with the national labor board, which governs the private sector.

This month, the NLRB ruled in favor of the administrators, effectively overruling the state board's decision and requiring a secret-ballot election rather than a union card check. Secret-ballot elections allow eligible workers to privately vote on whether to unionize, rather than to publicly sign union membership cards.

Purkey says that because Civitas receives public funding, she disagreed with the national labor board's decision that Civitas is a private employer. About 90 percent of Civitas' $15 million annual operating budget comes from taxpayer money. According to state law, charter schools are public schools, though they are exempt from some bureaucratic rules.

Late last month, state legislators showed their support for Purkey's interpretation. They overwhelmingly passed a package of reform bills that reaffirmed the Illinois labor board's jurisdiction over charter schools. Earlier, thirty members of the Illinois General Assembly had written a letter to Chicago Public Schools Chief Executive Officer Ron Huberman, asking him to side with the teachers in their quest for a union.

Simon Hess, chief executive officer of Civitas, says he disagreed with their stance, and that he was pleased with the national labor board's decision to allow teachers to vote privately. Yesterday's election was a last chance for administrators to put down the formation of a union.

"We're naturally disappointed by the result, but we respect the process and we respect the decision that has been made by a majority of our teachers," Hess says. "This is only a first step, and there's a lot of work ahead. Together, we can put together a fair and reasonable agreement that puts kids first and addresses the needs of our employees."

He called Civitas a "small organization with limited resources."

Purkey did not elaborate on what teachers would demand during negotiations, but their victory in securing a union presents a new rallying point for other teachers at charter schools.