Author Archive
by John Laesch, posted on Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012 at 7:59 am
State Rep. Daniel Biss had the courage to hold a town hall meeting to discuss “pension reform” in Glenview on April 30th. I estimate that 200-225 people attended the overcrowded room that was set up to accommodate 75 people.
The standing room only crowd was a mirror image of other pension discussions happening around the state. The general mood of the cramped, “slightly too warm for comfort” room was polite and respectful. Biss set the tone by taking questions and respecting diverse opinions while facilitating the conversation artfully.
I attended the event because I felt that if Representative Biss had the courage to hold a controversial town hall meeting that he might also have the courage to lead a fight to actually fund pensions and uphold the state’s end of the deal.
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Tags: Cook County, Daniel Biss, Glenview IL, Illinois, Illinois General Assembly, illinois pension reform, Mike Madigan, pension funding, speculation tax, Teachers Retirement System
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by John Laesch, posted on Saturday, April 28th, 2012 at 12:24 pm
Teachers and retired teachers filled a school cafeteria in Naperville, IL to hear a presentation from Dick Ingram, the Executive Director of the Teachers Retirement System (TRS) on Thursday, April 26th.
The staff at the high school had to set up extra seats to accommodate an estimated 300-400 people.
The presentation itself was very “matter of fact” and seemed to be a part of a PR effort to let teachers know that Governor Quinn and the Illinois General Assembly were about to deliver a hard-hitting punch. Most of the information presented was not new, but the use of multiple events and participation by the news media re-enforced the message, “the sky is falling and teachers have to make concessions.” Before delivering the bad news, Ingram did talk about how great it was that teachers had lived up to their responsibility by paying into the retirement system all of these years. He also acknowledged that teachers are not eligible for Social Security (a point that is often missed by the public and seems to be ignored by lawmakers).
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Tags: Bill Brady, Darlene Senger, Dick Ingram, DuPage County, education, Elaine Nekritz, Illinois General Assembly, Mike Noland, Naperville IL, Northern Illinois Jobs with Justice, Pat Quinn, pensions, retirement, teachers, Teachers Retirement System, TRS
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by John Laesch, posted on Sunday, April 1st, 2012 at 10:29 am
Last Saturday Northern Illinois Jobs With Justice (NIJWJ) meeting had good news for workers at ATMI.
Tim Bell with the Chicago Workers Collaborative reported that the workers had voted to join Laborers Local 681 by a vote of 78 to 9. The near-unanimous vote is a reflection of the strength and solidarity among the workers.
Bell also reported that the vote had been ratified by the Department of Labor and that ATMI was willing to sit down at the negotiating table with workers from the newly formed union.
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Tags: ATMI Precast, Aurora IL, Chicago Workers Collaborative, Illinois, Laborers Local 681, Northern Illinois Jobs with Justice, Tim Bell, unions
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by John Laesch, posted on Thursday, February 23rd, 2012 at 3:50 pm
The last time we got hit with 8″ of snow was Jan 21, 2012 and we had our biggest turnout for Occupy Aurora yet.
The VOICE Newspaper (available hardcopy only) covered the story and the Beacon News covered the story here.
Illinois Media Progressives covered the story on YouTube . Please send this video on to your friends and let them know why we are doing this!
With a snow storm predicted for the Fox Valley this weekend, I thought I would let people know that for Saturday, Feb 25th, occupiers will be gathering in at least three Fox Valley locations and there is interest in an “Occupy Kendall” initiative.
Occupy Elgin
When: Saturday @ 1:00 p.m. with a GA to follow in the lobby of Hemmings Auditorium
Where: The corner of Kimball St. and Grove Ave. in Elgin, IL (Parking is available and convenient)
Occupy Aurora
When: Saturday @ 10 a.m. with GA to follow at Arby’s
Where: Bank of America at the corner of Indian Trail and Orchard Rd. in Aurora
Occupy Naperville
When: 10 a.m. in front of the Bank of America, located at the corner of Van Buren & Washington in Naperville.
At 11:00 AM, Occupy Napervill will march to the First Congregational United Church of Christ, located at 25 E. Benton Ave and conduct an indoor General Assembly until 1:00 PM.
Tags: Aurora IL, Bank of America, Illinois Media Progressives, Occupy Aurora, Occupy Elgin, Occupy Naperville, Occupy Wall Street, The Voice, vince Gaddis
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by John Laesch, posted on Tuesday, December 27th, 2011 at 3:53 pm
As corporate ideologues continue to dominate Republican Party primaries and Democrats continue to ignore or brow-beat their base while pushing policies that benefit the wealthy and powerful, many activists and voters are wondering how to restore democracy for the 99%.
Some favor street activism like the Occupy Movement, while others turn to on-line activism like petition signing and blogging. These efforts are worthwhile and represent the birth pains of democracy, but elections matter. Until politicians fear losing their seats, or lose their seats, the 1% will continue to write the laws that the majority of us will dutifully obey those laws. Politically, I have always tried to use my time to work within the Democratic Party to get “better Democrats,” but, as clearly illustrated by the 2010 shellacking, many working people rewarded mediocrity with apathy; choosing not to vote for the lesser of two evils. How would these people respond to something new?
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Tags: 99%, democrat, Green Party, Justice Party, MoveOn.org, Occupy Wall Street, Rocky Anderson
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by John Laesch, posted on Monday, August 29th, 2011 at 2:38 pm
The Kendall County Republican Central Committee invited one of the most divisive people in America to be the keynote speaker at their annual family picnic. I guess the six or seven Republican presidential hopefuls are skipping Kendall County, and Sarah Palin was not available, so they turned to the other media hound, Joe Arpaio.
What is scary is that Joe Arpaio, who put Arizona taxpayers on the hook for his illegal racial profiling, and is also being investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, drew several hundred Republicans to a fundraiser.
I read this Beacon News article and decided Sunday afternoon was an appropriate time to pen my response. On this Sunday, I am certain that many Republicans who pledge to the Christian faith were in church pews, but where were they on Saturday when Joe Arpaio was in town? Were they at the protest outside or did they venture inside the GOP fundraiser?
Being raised on the mission field in West Africa I learned a Sunday School song that has this verse, “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight.”
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Tags: Corey Johnson, Illinois, immigration, Kendall County, racial profiling, Republicans, Sheriff Joe Arpaio
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by John Laesch, posted on Sunday, August 21st, 2011 at 1:35 pm
Last week I attended a town hall meeting (THM) with freshman Repesentative Randy Hultgren in Sandwich, and a second in Geneva. The third THM is in Yorkville on Aug. 29. See details at the end of this post.
Question after question, the crowd pushed for Jobs-Jobs-Jobs! Many also called for a fair, progressive tax on the wealthiest of our society, the card-carrying members of the millionaire and billionaire clubs. Others pushed more spcifically for H.R. 870, the Humphrey-Hawkins 21st Century Full Employment and Training Act, a bill that imposes a speculation tax of .25% on Wall Street trading. The revenue would be used to create 2.5 to 10 million jobs.
Keep reading for press coverage, video of the THM’s, and details for the next THM.
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Tags: Geneva IL, HR 870, Humphrey-Hawkins, IL-14, Illinois, Jobs with Justice, Kane County, Kendall County, labor movement, MoveOn.org, Randy Hultgen, Sandwich IL, Town Hall Meeting, Yorkville IL
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by John Laesch, posted on Monday, August 15th, 2011 at 7:13 pm
Northern Illinois Jobs With Justice (NIJWJ) has been holding monthly events and rallies on the first Friday of every month when unemployment numbers are released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The last rally was covered by The Voice (Not an on-line article, but their website tells where you can pick up a copy), and The Beacon News.
August unemploymet numbers (9.1% unemployed) showed little improvement in the economic crisis facing millions of American families. The Chicago Political Economy Group (CPEG) points out that adding the 13.9 million unemployed together with the 6.5 million discouraged workers means that over 20 million American families are still suffering even though the Great Recession was declared “over” more than two years ago.
The question is, what are we going to do about it?
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Tags: Beacon News, Chicago Political Economy Group, Fox Valley Labor Paper, Illinois, Jobs with Justice, speculation tax, the voice newspaper, unemployment, Wall Street
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by John Laesch, posted on Tuesday, July 12th, 2011 at 6:16 pm
During a tough 2010 political campaign, Governor Quinn negotiated raises with members of the American Federation State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union. On July 1, 2011, Governor Quinn cancelled those raises for more than 30,000 state workers.
This afternoon, fifty to seventy-five citizens rallied in Aurora, IL to call on Governor Pat Quinn to keep his word and honor long overdue wage increases for state
workers. The Aurora event was part of a statewide, 75-rally day of action and a majority of the participants were AFSCME members. Representatives from other unions and local businesses also participated in the action.
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Tags: AFSCME, Aurora IL, Chris Lauzen, collective bargaining, Linda Chapa LaVia, Linda Holmes, Mike Madigan, Pat Quinn, Ruby Robinson, unions
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by John Laesch, posted on Sunday, June 26th, 2011 at 9:30 pm
I attended the Northern Illinois Jobs With Justice monthly meeting this weekend to learn about another chapter in the ongoing war on the middle class. Buddy
Howard, a locked out worker from Roquette, a French-owned company in Keokuk, Iowa, attended the meeting to share his story. Buddy is one of the 240 BCTGM Local 48G members who have been locked out since Sept. 28, 2010.
After the meeting, Buddy shared his story with radio host Adam Klugman. You can listen by clicking the link.
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Tags: Buddy Howard, Illinois, Iowa, Jobs with Justice, Keokuk IA, labor, Last Best and Final Staffing, Quincy IL, Roquette, scabs, unions
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