The Chicago Trade With Justice Working Group (CTWJWG), formed just last December, has struck again. Following up on their visit to Obama campaign HQ in Downtown Chicago On December 15th (and a very popular video of the visit produced by Larry Duncan of Labor Beat), CTWJWG visited Obama & Durbin’s senate offices in the Federal Building in downtown Chicago to demand that they oppose the Colombia /U.S. Free Trade Agreement. Both Obama and Durbin supported the Peru/U.S. Free Trade Agreement, which passed in the congress in early December, betraying their promises to end trade policy that devastates the lives of workers in this country and aboard. This time around members of CTWJWG filmed some of the dozens of individuals who signed on to our letter to Obama and Durbin, on behalf of 30 different organizations. View the video here… http://youtube.com/watch?v=HgTzdJ2Rkqs Here is a video taken the day the letter was delivered (Monday, Jan. 28th)… http://youtube.com/watch?v=NsF5AZWMHmo View...

KNOW THE FACTS... IMMIGRATION: While the Democrats avoid discussing the issue in debates and call for tougher enforcement and new fences along the border in Congress, the Greens are the only ones calling for legalization for all. In fact, we go even further than that, and argue that if NAFTA and CAFTA allow companies to easily cross borders, it should be the same for working people… “The Green Party calls for permanent border passes to all citizens of Mexico and Canada whose identity can be traced and verified. Work permits for citizens of Mexico and Canada must be easily obtainable, thereby decriminalizing the act of gainful employment.” - From the Green Party National Platform HEALTH CARE: While the Democrats devise various schemes to defend the interests of their friends and donors in the health care insurance industry, only the Greens are calling for a truly universal, single payer, non-profit health care system. The Democrat’s plans are a patch work approach that is likely to rai...

The Year in Labor – 2007: The Year of Concessions… 2007 started off on a positive note in regards to the labor movement both locally and nationally; but by year’s end, we witnessed some of the biggest setbacks in recent labor history. Here is Labor Express Radio’s analysis of the labor news highlights for the past year. Note: this is by no means a comprehensive list – please let us know what we missed by emailing us… redjerry2@yahoo.com The Good: 2007 saw a first in Chicago’s recent labor history – the Chicago Federation of Labor (CFL) taking on the seemingly all powerful mayor of Chicago, Richard M. Daley. After years of enduring the Mayor’s anti-labor policies and an acquiescent city council, the Federation made good on its threat to make the Mayor pay at election time. The CFL, in conjunction with SEIU and a variety of community organizations, succeeded in electing over half a dozen pro labor aldermen to the Chicago City Council and defended their friends on the council who were th...

Teamsters Trade Gains of 1997 UPS Strike for Deal to Organize Members at Freight Division — Mark Brenner In mid-November Teamsters (IBT) at United Parcel Service approved a controversial five-year agreement, more than eight months before the expiration of their current contract. The new contract will pull 44,000 Teamsters out of the union’s multi-employer Central States pension plan, and end conversion of part-time into full-time jobs at UPS. It also widens the gap between full-time and part-time standards, freezing part-timers’ starting pay and forcing new part-timers to work for a year before they are eligible for health care coverage. These givebacks were accepted in spite of the company’s healthy bottom line, UPS reported more than $4 billion in pre-tax net income last year... READ THE REST AT THE LABOR NOTES WEBSITE... http://labornotes.org/node/1451 Check out the opposition to this concessionary contract here... http://makeupsdeliver.org/news.php

As discussed on the Labor Express radio program, here are some important works of labor history and analysis released in the past few months. Kim Moody has long been an insightful analyst of developments in the labor movement as a former union organizer and one of the founders of Labor Notes. His new work - U.S. Labor in Trouble and Transition: The Failure of Reform from Above, The Promise of Revival from Below – takes a look at the reasons for organized labor’s precipitous decline in membership and power over the past few decades, and provides solid advice on what is necessary to turn the situation around. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK… http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1844671542/ref=s9_asin_image_1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1PRY0CX1MFXW8KT8N51D&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=320448701&pf_rd_i=507846 http://www.versobooks.com/books/klm/m-titles/moody_k_labor_transition.shtml Kim Moody also has another important book out on the economy and labor in New York...

Some of the most innovative and essential work being accomplished by both the labor movement and the movement for immigrant rights is, once again, happening right here in Chicago. The Chicago Committee Against No-Match Letters and the Rapid Response Network, lead by the UE (United Electrical Workers Union), Chicago Workers Collaborative, UFCW (United Food and Commercial Workers) Local 881, Interfaith Worker Justice and other Chicago area workers centers, has organized a fight back against Social Security “no-match” letters and ICE workplace raids in an effort to make Chicago a no-match and ICE raid free zone. The goal is to make the economic, political and social costs of terrorzing immigrant workers through no-match letters and workplace raids so high for employers and their friends at DHS (Department of Homeland Security) that they will be forced to back off. This is an extremely important effort, as no-match letters and ICE raids are a key strategy of the anti-immigrant forces who a...

Yesterday (12-15-07) the newly formed Chicago Trade With Justice Working Group, held their first public action - a visit to the Chicago campaign HQ for Sen. Barack Obama. On the campaign trail, Obama has criticized those who supported NAFTA and CAFTA and promised to take a different direction in regards to trade policy if elected President. Yet he expressed publicly that he supported the recently passes U.S./Peru Free Trade Agreement and did not show up to vote against it when it was voted on by the Senate on Dec. 4th. The Working Group delivered a letter to Obama stating our disappointment with his decision not to take a stand against this dangerous extension of NAFTA to yet another country, and calling on him to oppose an upcoming trade deal with Colombia. Video of our visit to Obama campaign HQ can be viewed at the following links, thanks to the work of Larry Duncan from Labor Beat T.V… http://blip.tv/file/544160/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBw3IVwd58w You can view a copy of the...