Pilsenprole guide to May Day 2010… As promised on today’s episode of Labor Express Radio, I will try to provide here the most complete list of May Day related events in the Chicago area as I can… Saturday, May 1st May Day March for Immigrant Rights Gather at Union Park (Ashland and Washington, Chicago) at 1:00 P.M. March will leave the park for Daley Plaza at 3:00 P.M. http://icirr.org/en/node/4622 Saturday, May 1st May Day Commemoration at Haymarket Square (Corner of DesPlaines and Randolph) Join nearly 70 trade unionists from Zenroren in dedicating a new plaque to the Haymarket Square Monument. Event will begin at 10:00 A.M. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=44064534074#!/event.php?eid=109992122357582&index=1 Thursday, April 29th – Sunday, May 2nd A Century+ of May Days: Labor and Social Struggles International Conference Organized by the Institute of Working Class History Hosted by International Studies Program at DePaul University Most Sessions held at DePaul University, 23...

Yesterday it was confirmed. The last four missing miners at the Upper Big Branch mine in Montcoal West Virginia were found dead. That puts the death toll of this most recent mining tragedy at 29, the worst mining disaster in the United States in over 25 years. But this tragedy could have been predicated and should have been prevented. The history of the Upper Big Branch mine, Massey Energy and company CEO Don Blankenship reads like an early 20th century muckraking novel about the evils of capitalism. Here is just a taste of the story... Since 1995 there have been more than 3,000 safety violations at Upper Big Branch. Of the $1.5 million in penalties Massey has racked up since 2007, the company has actually paid less than $300,000 in fines. Last year, the mine faced $900,000 in fines for more than 450 violations. Just in 2010, the company had been charged with another $190,000 in fines. In 2008 Massey Energy was fined $20 million dollars by the EPA for violations of the clean wa...

Here is the statement from the union... STRIKE BY UIC GRADUATE STUDENTS AVERTED Late last evening, after a marathon 13 hours in mediation, the UIC Graduate Employees Organization and the UIC administration reached an agreement regarding the GEO’s contract. The GEO's first agreement expired in August 2009, and GEO members have been negotiating a new contract since April 2009. After the university declined to guarantee the tuition waivers all Graduate Assistants and Teaching Assistants already receive, GEO members approved a vote to go on strike if Monday’s mediation session did not secure the future of tuition waivers and give graduate employees input on controversial “Tuition Differential Fees,” which force some graduate students to pay up to $11,000 per year in fees, despite the fact that most GEO members make less than $15,000 per year. GEO members were joined by faculty, undergraduates, and community members to rally at the site of the mediation session early Monday mornin...