Leonel Perez and Claire Lomiskey speak on the Immokalee Farm Workers struggle for fair wages and fair treatment. Join them Saturday, September 15, 2012, at Clark and La Salle at the south end of Lincoln Park as they lobby Chipotle corporation to recognize farm workers. For more information, visit http://www.ciw-online.org/cultivate or contact claire@interfaithact.org
As the Chicago public school teachers’ strike enters its second day, we’re joined by the journalist and author Chris Hedges. “The teacher strike in Chicago is arguably one of the most important labor actions in probably decades,” Hedges says. “If it does not prevail, you can be certain that the template for the attack on the union will be carried out across the country against other teachers unions and against the last redoubt of union activity, which is in the public sector of course, fireman and police.” Hedges continues, “It is always the ruling class that determines the parameters of rebellion and resistance. And the Chicago strike illustrates the bankruptcy of both traditional labor and the Democratic Party. And that is why the Occupy movement was so important.” Hedges is the author of the new book with illustrator Joe Sacco, “Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt.”
Mike Elk, In These Times, &\and Neil McCabe, Human Events Online, join Thom Hartmann. For the first time in 25 years – teachers in Chicago are on strike – leaving more than 350,000 students locked out of the classroom. What’s the motivation behind the teacher’s strike – and can we expect to see a resolution anytime soon?
Speakers include Karen Lewis (Chicago Teachers Union), William McNary (Citizen Action/Illinois), Matt Brandon (SEIU Local 73), Henry Bayer (AFSCME Council 31), Nick Sposato (Alderman, 36th Ward), Mack Julion (National Association of Letter Carriers-Local Branch #11 Chicago ), Robert Reiter (Chicago Federation of Labor), Jitu Brown (Kenwood Oakland Community Organization), Jan Rodolfo (National Nurses United), and Mike Shields (Fraternal Order of Police),
The call for a general strike on May 1 should not be solely about work, argues Marina Sitrin, a postdoctoral fellow at CUNY specializing in global mass movements. Instead, it should reshape our ideas about how society is built, as Sitrin explains in this video, by asking hard questions about class, consumption, work and society.