As President Obama shifts into campaign mode in preparation for the 2012 presidential election, one element of his base, Latino voters, are increasingly voicing their disappointment with the President. Today in six cities around the country members of the National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities (NALACC) and Presente.org organized a series of protests to expressing their opposition to the so called “Secure Communities” (S-COMM) program which encourages local law enforcement to act as extensions of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE). In Chicago members of both organizations presented a letter to staff at Obama’s national campaign headquarters calling on the President to end the program. Immigrant rights activists argue that the poorly named Secure Communities program actually creates insecurity in immigrant communities as undocumented immigrants are afraid to report crimes to the police out of fear that they will be reported to immigration age...

The National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities (NALACC), is calling on President Obama to ended the so called "Secure Communities" program which actually leads to insecurity and fear in immigrant communities. They further call on Obama to end his massive program of deportations. Please see below for more and sign on to the online petition. And please join us for a protest here in Chicago next Tuesday, August 16th at 11:00 AM at the Chicago Cultural Center, 79 E. Washington to march to Obama's campaign HQ... Secure Communities Brings Insecurity: Latino Immigrant Communities Reject President Obama’s Deportation Scheme The ill-conceived program known as “Secure Communities” has been harmful to community & police relations and it should end once and for all Chicago, IL – On Friday, August 5, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, a branch of the Department of Homeland Security, announced its decision to unilaterally move forward wi...

On Tuesday, a slim majority of the members of Steelworkers Local 7-669 in Metropolis Illinois voted to ratify a new contract laden with major concessions. The union did win on some key issues including retiree health care, current workers pensions and overtime pay. But the hosts of concessions they agreed to will certainly be painful for the membership. It has been a great pleasure to get to know the members of Local 7-669 over the past year. Working with the Local to tell their story has been a highlight of my many years of labor activism. In particular I have been inspired by Local 7-669 militants like Stephen Lech, John Paul Smith, Luckie Atkinson, Christian Musselman and others who where transformed by this experience over the past year. None were seasoned union activists when this fight started, but in the course of this experience they have become some of the most spirited and creative union militants I know. And I expect this is not the end to the fight in Metropolis. ...

My next piece on the Honeywell lockout in Metropolis Illinois was due to come out in next month's edition of Labor Notes. But earlier this week a tentative settlement was reached. So here is the updated version online... Elements of Victory Emerge as Uranium Lockout Nears End Jerry Mead-Lucero | July 21, 2011 After more than a year outside the gates, the lockout at the Honeywell uranium conversion plant in Metropolis, Illinois, looks to end. Details of the July 19 settlement were scant. Members will consider the deal this week and union leaders will take questions Monday. A vote could take place next week—unless members reject the deal outright. For the rest go here... http://labornotes.org/2011/07/elements-victory-emerge-uranium-lockout-nears-end

Last Saturday, the locked-out Steelworkers of Local 7-669 in Metropolis Illinois held a rally marking one year since the 228 workers at the Honeywell Uranium Processing plant were locked-out. And on today's program I will bring you an update of the efforts of the Steelworkers to bring the lock-out to a close. This will be part 1 of a multi-episode update. Definitely some interesting, inspiring and disturbing stuff that you want to stay tuned for. On today's program will also get an update on the struggle over La Casita in the Pilsen neighborhood. We will hear from Chicago Teachers Union Vice President Jesse Sharkey about new Mayor Rahm Emmanuel's attack on teachers in Chicago. We will hear from nurses about cuts to the Cook County hospital system. And we will hear from labor journalist Mike Elk about a boycott of the Huffington Post... http://www.archive.org/details/LaborExpressFor7-4-11

I traveled down to the far southern tip of Illinois last weekend to participate in a rally marking 1 year since members of Steel workers local 7-669 have been locked out at the Honeywell uranium conversion plant. Tomorrow's episode of Labor Express Radio will be part 1 of a multi-episode update on the lock-out. Next month's edition of Labor Notes will also include an article on recent developments in the lock-out. As a teaser and to provide some context for those not aware of the situation, I thought I would post the full version of my reflections on my visit to Metropolis last September. This piece was edit for publication in Labor Notes October edition and in the November edition of News and Letters, but I have not previously posted the full version... The Men of Steel Locked-Out in the Home of the Man of Steel Metropolis - Labor Land : As you approach the tiny town of Metropolis it is abundantly clear, as much as 25 miles out, that this is union friendly territory...

On Wednesday morning the police, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) security and construction crews showed up a La Casita, the field house on the grounds of Whittier Dual Language Academy in the Pilsen neighborhood on Chicago’s Southwest side. As the construction workers setup up fencing that blocked access to La Casita from three sides, the police tried to prevent Whittier moms from entering La Casita. True to form, the moms ignored the police and marched right past. Soon after word was sent to the majority of Whittier Parents Committee members who were at that moment supporting the teachers at a rally at a school board meeting downtown. Suspicions are high that CPS was deliberate in their choice to show up with a demolition team on the very morning that La Casita would be least defended. But once again, CPS underestimated the Whittier moms and their determination to defend their community center. Things had been heating up for a couple weeks. Ever since CPS announced its intentions t...

I have received a urgent request from the Whittier Parents Committee. The police tried to prevent access to La Casita today and a fence has been constructed around two of three entrance to the school grounds. It appears as if an attempted demolition might be imminent. The Whittier Parent's Committee is calling on all allies to show up at La Casita tonight. They need as many people as possible there to possible prevent demolition. Here is the statement from their Facebook page... UPDATE: PRESS CONFERENCE @ 7:30PM TODAY. PLEASE COME THROUGH! We need as much support as possible. More info will be available at the press conference And... UPDATE: Call Alderman Solis NOW @ 773.523.4100 to make sure the TIF money allocated for Whittier is used for the renovation of La Casita as he committed to. Solis stated the following during a meeting at La Casita on October 21, 2010 “the money from this district’s [Pilsen Corridor] Tax Increment Financing that would have been used to demolish the ...

This months edition of the Industrial Worker, the newspaper of the IWW carried a powerful statement of solidarity with the workers of Cuba, as they now face not only repression at the hands of a Stalinist state apparatus but also "economic reforms" which will likely mean an even greater lowering of living standards for some in a country in which outside free health care and education, living standards are already precariously low. Unfortunately the Industrial Worker is no longer available online, but the statement, issued by a long list of supporting unions and anarchist groups around the globe was available on one of the anarchist websites... Statement in support of Cuban Anti-Authoritarian/Horizontalist organizers, workers, activists, artists, musicians y mas in Cuba. Scroll down to see current list of endorsements and the original statement in Spanish. YOU ARE NOT ALONE The Communist Party of Cuba's VI Congress has just closed with an endorsement of the liberal reform...

Another Latino dies in a strange home invasion incident, this time by the Police... On May 5 at around 9:30 a.m., several teams of Pima County, Ariz., police officers from at least four different police agencies armed with SWAT gear and an armored personnel carrier raided at least four homes as part of what at the time was described as an investigation into alleged marijuana trafficking. One of those homes belonged to 26-year-old Jose Guerena and his wife, Vanessa Guerena. The couple's 4-year-old son was also in the house at the time. Their 6-year-old son was at school... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/25/jose-guerena-arizona-_n_867020.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 24, 2011 Greenpeace activists climb deadly smokestack at Fisk coal plant in Chicago Activists call on Edison International to “Quit Coal” and shut down Fisk and Crawford CHICAGO— Before dawn, a team of eight Greenpeace activists climbed the 450 foot smokestack at the Fisk power plant in Chicago. From the stack, they demanded that the operators shut down the dirty, dangerous Fisk and Crawford coal plants. The Fisk and Crawford plants – operated by Edison International subsidiary Midwest Generation are among the oldest in the United States. More people live in range of these plants than any other coal plant in America; nearly one in four Chicagoans live in a three mile radius of one or both plants. Coal fired power plants kill between 13,000 and 34,000 people a year--as many as one person every 15 minutes. That staggering figure includes the 42 Chicagoans who die as a result of pollution from Fisk and Crawford, including residents in the severely...