Hello pilsenprole readers - if any of you still exist.  Yes, it has been a long damn time since I have been maintaining this blog.  It has been increasingly difficult, first with my intensified job search in the final months of my nearly two years of unemployment, and than as I started my new job as the Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization's (PERRO) organizer to spend anytime composing new material.  The really shame is that so much has happened in the past year locally and globally, that should have received more of my attention.  So today I am making an extremely tardy new years pledge of sorts and committing myself to make at least a couple posts every month, from now on.  Hopefully you may find my posts worthy of a few minutes of your time, and hopefully I can start my self back on the track of my original mission, to inform those who do find their way to my blog about important issues a...

May Day 2012 in Chicago... https://photos.app.goo.gl/HCiGfhRKGNAiM2zQ6

Losing your job is hard on any worker. But imagine discovering from the company website that your job is gone. It happened in December to 136 employees of an upscale bakery in the Chicago suburb of Lincolnwood. Unfortunately, worker center advocates say, such sudden closures with mass firings are not uncommon. Two Chicago worker centers are fighting for laid-off workers left in their wake. Karen Leyva was the assistant office manager at Rolf's Patisserie. She said workers were told on a Saturday the bakery would be closed for cleaning on Sunday and to report to work on Monday. But a worker who helped maintain the company website spotted the closure announcement online. Leyva and Deyanira Alvarez, a customer service rep, quickly organized a phone tree. Read the rest here... http://labornotes.org/2012/02/sudden-business-closures-chicago-prompt-wage-theft-fights

UE workers are again occupying at 1333 N Hickory "Serious Materials" formerly "Republic Window and Door". According to former UE officer and journalist Mike Elk, they are demanding that rather than laying off workers the factory be sold to a company that can keep people on, or be turned over to the workers as a cooperative. Need people to turn out to support them NOW!

There will be a brief update on the victory at Piccolo school on tomorrow's episode of Labor Express Radio. For more see the following links... http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=3073&section=Article and... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw4PgOeRuLg

Breaking News! Piccolo parents defend their school, children and teachers, protest "Turnaround" This afternoon Piccolo Elementary parents held a Press Conference to defend their school. They announced that they will occupy Piccolo to protest the Board of Education's plans. The Board plans to vote on Wednesday to turnaround Piccolo and hand over management of the school to AUSL, Academy for Urban School Leadership, a privately connected firm with ties to City Hall. For the time being, you can follow what's happening on Occupy Chicago's UStream account. To support the parents of Piccolo, go to Piccolo School, 1040 N. Keeler . Bring friends, food, blankets, and water. Support Our Schools, Don't Close Them! Let's tell Mayor Emanuel: Support Our Schools Don't Close Them! 4:00 PM Monday, February 20th Rally at Lake View High School 4015 N. Ashland Avenue CPS has wasted millions on school closings, which hurt our students and tear apart communities. Demand:...

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...