by Downtowner, posted on Tuesday, August 9th, 2011 at 12:10 pm
Then how about this evening?
Wisconsin recall elections are happening today and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy for America have set up a website where you can volunteer to help get out the vote right from the comfort of your own home.
They provide the numbers and the script.
The next call shift is this afternoon from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. CDT. If you can’t call this afternoon there will be a last shift from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. CDT (polls close in Wisconsin at 8:00 p.m CDT.)
C’mon, you know you want to change the world – it’s really very easy – just click on this handy link and volunteer now. You’ll feel much better in the morning.
Solidarity!
UPDATE: I just found out about this site (that’s another handly link for you) belonging to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. You can make calls through this site too, and it has a handy rundown of the races.
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.
by John Laesch, posted on Sunday, June 26th, 2011 at 9:30 pm
I attended the Northern Illinois Jobs With Justicemonthly 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.
by VideoNewsService, posted on Monday, March 14th, 2011 at 7:17 pm
Congressman Dennis Kucinich gave the keynote speech Saturday March 12, 2011 at the historic Barrymore Theater in Madison, Wisconsin. Speaking to a packed house Kucinich time-after-time brought the audience to it’s feet responding to the passion of his words. Once again Kucinich is in the forefront of the battle to take back America for it’s citizens. When others hold back like Feingold and Obama Dennis takes action.
Click here to visit the VideoNewsService YouTube Channel.
by John Laesch, posted on Wednesday, March 9th, 2011 at 6:58 pm
The clock started ticking on March 2, 2011 when Wisconsin citizens initiated the recall of eight Republican state senators who back Scott Walker.
After filing the papers, pro-recall activists will have 60 days (that is 55 days from this posting) to collect almost 15,000 signatures per district. Party activists have narrowed down the top six districts that are most likely to recall their senator. You can see the chart below. It is true that District 8 is slightly closer to Chicagoland, but I am planning on spending my weekend in District 14; supporting the Wisconsin14.
by John Laesch, posted on Monday, March 7th, 2011 at 5:01 pm
A Friday layoff check, a tank of gasoline, my buddy Joe, and my “Stand with the Wisconsin 14” sign put me in the heart of the fight to protect the middle class of America this past Saturday.
It felt like democracy – more so than Grant Park on election day in 2008. Many of my friends are probably already following the fight between Scott Walker, the corporate-backed governor of Wisconsin, and state workers (teachers, firefighters and police) who are fighting to protect the very right to bargain in unity (instead of individually) for fair wages and benefits.
by John Laesch, posted on Wednesday, April 7th, 2010 at 7:19 pm
I stopped by the Montgomery Menard’s (I boycott anti-union Home Depot for their CEO’s effort to kill the Employee Free Choice Act) to pick up some drill bits last week and saw a picket in front of a Buona Beef that was going up in front of the Menard’s.
As I walked over to the
picket line, I found several Fox Valley labor leaders and friends holding signs in front of about 10 inflatable rats. When I asked what was going on, my friends informed me that the owner of Buona Beef was out for an inspection and they were sending a message.
by John Laesch, posted on Wednesday, April 7th, 2010 at 6:12 am
Mallory Gaspar
and her brother, Mark Gaspar, donated blood at the Carpenters Local 195 union hall in Ottawa, Illinois yesterday.
For the last eight years, retired Local 195 member/organizer, Fred Nimke, has been coordinating a blood drive at the Carpenters hall. Nimke said that this was the 49th blood drive with the American Red Cross and that they have collected over 1200 pints of blood plus today’s collection of at least 48 pints.
The blood drive was started after the 9-11 tragedy. “We wanted to do something and the soonest the Red Cross could schedule a drive was February 2002,” said Nimke. Since then, Fred has been actively promoting the blood drives and showing up six times a year to coordinate the effort for Illinois Valley residents.
According to Nimke, each pint can save up to three lives; “potentially we have saved over to 3,600 lives,” he added.
One of the things that makes America great is volunteerism and citizen responses to things like 9-11 or Katrina. It felt good donating my pint of blood today and I am glad that there are people out there like Fred Nimke to lead these efforts. I snapped some photos with my phone camera and saved readers from the “needle shot.”
The next blood drive in the Illinois Valley will be Tuesday, June 1st from 12:00 – 5:00 p.m. at Carpenters Hall Local 195 (1001 Boyce Memorial Drive, Ottawa, IL). All donors are welcome. Appointments are preferred (call 815.257.5433), but not necessary.
by Downtowner, posted on Saturday, December 19th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
Just got home from work and am wondering if you are all feeling festive yet?
No?
Well, if you are, say, male, and are feeling left out of the opportunity to contribute something (like the right to control your body) to the effort to funnel billions of dollars to corporate America, don’t despair: there’s something in here for you too.
If you are, like me, so uninsurable that the only policy you will be offered will be junk insurance at punitively high premiums, you’re in there: the penalty for paying to keep more of your money to pay for your health care out-of-pocket (because your “policy” won’t) is up – reputedly to offset the fact that it’s much more expensive to give away lots of cash to our insurance overlords without the public option. So they had to raise more cash to offset that.
Or, if you are a union member, you too get to contribute to the Giant Giveaway. Those good insurance policies you have, via trading wage increases to get them, are going to be taxed at a higher rate – also to help offset the more expensive non-public-option Giveaway.
Who knows how many other lovely opportunities there are for Americans of all descriptions to do their part to create a festive season for the insurance industry. You can go read the manager’s amendment here and see if you can find more.
by John Laesch, posted on Sunday, November 15th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Illinois unemployment rate hit 10.5% in September of 2009 and a Kewanee-based company, Jensen Construction, chose to use out-of-state workers to build a $3M building in Sycamore, IL. According to Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES), the unemployment rate in DeKalb County is 9.2%.
Last week,
union members from a number of trades picketed the construction site using banners. When one picketer left the site to answer an emergency phone call, he returned to find that the banners had been stolen. Unions responded by putting a rat out in front of the construction site.
