Hi pilsenprole readers, I apologize for such a long break from my previous entry, especially given the importance of the just past election. I have been quite ill over the past few weeks and it has really slowed me down. I will post my own reflections on the election within the next couple days. In the meantime, I encourage you to read this article by Bill Fletcher Jr. Fletcher is the author of the recently published book Solidarity Divided: The Crisis in Organized Labor and a New Path toward Social Justice , an excellent analysis of the current state of the labor movement in the United States (I encourage all of you to buy a copy). He is also the former President of the TransAfrica Forum and the former Director of Education for the AFL-CIO. He is one of the founders of the Center for Labor Renewal. Fletcher provides a well thought-out plan for Obama’s first hundred days… http://www.centerforlaborrenewal.org/?P=A&Category_ID=25&Article=229&PHPSESSID=9e495a97f476e18bed3c0a55...

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...

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...

Where are our Senate and Congressional leaders when it is time to oppose unfair trade? Press conference to be held outside Obama for America HQ. Labor activists, fair trade advocates, Latin American solidarity activists, environmentalists, immigrant rights organizers, people of faith, and others are concerned with the recent lack of interest of our U.S. Congressional and Senate leaders when it comes to stopping un-fair trade deals - as evidenced by the recent House and Senate votes on the US-Peru “Free Trade” Agreement. We find it very troubling that one of our Illinois Senators, Barack Obama, a current candidate for President of the United States, skipped the vote on the Peru trade pact, missing an important opportunity to stand up for working people and the environment both here and in Peru. We are even more concerned that Obama, along with Sen Hillary Clinton, made public statements supporting the Peru Trade deal and that our other Senator from Illinois, Dick Durbin voted in favor o...