Chicago Public Schools football officials say they haven't been paid since conference play started a few weeks ago.
Now they're refusing to take the field until they are.
A couple hundred officials who regularly work CPS football games have gone on strike over nonpayment, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Freshman and JV games have already been canceled this week, and the 10 varsity Public League games scheduled for Thursday are in jeopardy.
"Varsity games are in jeopardy," official Breyion Hutchinson told the Sun-Times. "If the officials are not paid today they will not work tomorrow."
Individual schools paid officials directly for Weeks 1-3, the non-conference portion of the schedule. CPS was supposed to take over payment beginning in Week 4. Week 7 begins Thursday, and officials say they have not been paid for any of the three conference weeks since the district took over.
Hutchinson said officials were twice told the money was on the way.
"Two weeks ago when we met with the [CPS Sports Administration] they told us funds would be released Friday through Monday," Hutchinson said. "Then we received an email from [CPS Sports Director] Devon Morales on Monday which said funds were being released that day. That wasn't true."
Fellow official Mike Outten said the group polled its members before deciding to sit.
"Our stance is until these guys are paid they are not going on the field," Outten said. "We had a meeting on Monday in which we asked the officials who has been paid. Everyone said they had not. We aren't working until they pay us."
The cancellations have already started piling up. A number of schools have already cancelled lower-level games set to take place this week.
Shaw Local reported that 39 varsity Public League games are on the slate this weekend, with the earliest Thursday kickoffs set for 4 p.m., and that girls flag football and volleyball are being impacted by the same issue as well.
Hutchinson explained what a typical week looks like for a CPS official.
"CPS officials can work two football games on Thursday, two games on Friday and up to three games on Saturday. Along with volleyball and flag football," he said. "We depend on this money for our livelihood."
The Sun-Times notes that CPS has yet to release a statement on the matter.
IHSA executive director Craig Anderson said the association has no direct role because officials are hired as independent contractors, but that it is monitoring the situation closely.
Every athletic director in America is fighting to keep a full crew on the schedule right now. Asking officials to work three weeks on an IOU, after telling them twice the money was coming, is how you lose the few you still have. The officials held up their end, and the at the Freshman and JV levels in the city have already paid for a problem they had nothing to do with.
We'll keep an eye on whether the checks clear before Thursday's 4 p.m. kickoffs. Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.