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Category Archives: Labor/Economics
The Case for Reparations: Champaign County
According to the Descendants Truth and Reconciliation Foundation, Black people in America own 10 cents of wealth for every dollar a white person owns, have lower life expectancies and higher unemployment, will earn $1 million less during their lifetimes, are … Continue reading
170 total views
Posted in African American history, African Americans, African Americans, Inequality, Labor/Economics, Racism, Section, Voices, Voices of Color
Tagged African American history, discrimination, inequality, racism, reparations, Slavery, wealth gap
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Who is Un-American?
This article, commissioned for the Public i, appeared first in a longer version in Monthly Review on November 29, 2023, under the title “Gender, Labor, Democracy, and Americanism: U.S. History in the (Un)Making”; reprinted with permission. In the early hours of Monday, May 15, … Continue reading
677 total views
Posted in Feminism, labor, Labor militancy, Labor/Economics, Section, Voices, Women, Women, wonen's rights
Tagged feminist history, labor history, Memory, monuments, women
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For Whom the Bell Tolls
For whom does the bell toll? These days it tolls for our children, gunned down in our streets and schools because of gun violence. And as if this were not enough, there are the child laborers among us and the … Continue reading
836 total views
Posted in children, labor, Labor/Economics, Section, union soldarity, Worker Health and Safety
Tagged child labor, labor protections, solidarity, Whistleblowers, workers' health and safety, workers' rights
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Faculty and Staff Strike at Eastern Illinois University
Eastern Illinois University University Professionals of Illinois (EIU UPI, IFT Local 4100) members went on strike on April 6, after more than a year of fruitless bargaining, which forced faculty and staff to work without a contract since September, 2022. … Continue reading
452 total views
Posted in Labor, Labor/Economics, Section, union soldarity
Tagged campus labor, public university labor relations, unions, workers' strike
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Growing Up “Unlucky”: Putting a Human Face on Bureau of Labor Statistics
Numerous options for employment abound in our small metropolitan area nestled amid the farmland of eastern central Illinois. From warehouses to food establishments to car repair shops, job seekers have many a choice for offering their time and effort. Yet, … Continue reading
624 total views
Posted in African American history, African Americans, Economics, Labor, Labor/Economics, Racism, Section
Tagged economic racism, economics, inequality, Labor, unemployment
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Graduate Employees Go Wild—For Unionization
Workers are on the move across America. Strikes rose by an astounding 50 percent between 2021 and 2022, and the pace of organization was equally impressive, with new fields of organizing opening in the service sector, the art world, and … Continue reading
363 total views
Posted in Education, Education, labor, Labor militancy, Labor/Economics, Public Universities, Section, union soldarity
Tagged campus labor, graduate employees, higher education, unionization
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GEO at UIUC 10 Months into Contract Negotiations
As I write this, the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) Local 6300 is 10 months into the contract negotiating process with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign administration. So far there have been 19 bargaining sessions. The GEO presented its proposal … Continue reading
530 total views
Posted in labor, Labor/Economics, Section, University of Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Tagged Campus organizing, GEO, graduate students, Labor, UIUC, unions
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Labor Abuse as Product Placement at the World Cup
The 2022 soccer World Cup began its takeover of global sports channels on November 20, transmitting endless images of cosmopolitan crowds enjoying the sparkling new stadiums of Qatar to audiences around the world. The country that hosts the World Cup … Continue reading
468 total views
Posted in International, International, labor, Labor/Economics, Middle East, Section, Sports
Tagged ballwashing, exploitation, human rights, migrant labor, Qatar, World Cup
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A Time of Monsters: The New Nadir and the Crisis of the Black Worker
We currently reside in what Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci called “A Time of Monsters.” Exacerbated by the catastrophic COVID-19 pandemic, the Black working classes continue to struggle under what Black Studies scholar Sundiata Cha-Jua has dubbed “the New Nadir.” For … Continue reading
422 total views
Posted in African Americans, African Americans, Economy, labor, Labor/Economics, Politics
Tagged Black workers, economic inequality, economic racism, new nadir, underemployment
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The Value of Transaction Taxes on Financial Instruments
Financial transaction taxes (FTT) are an innovative system whose time has come again. There has been a narrow FTT in the UK since 1694, which raised $4.9 billion in 2020, and it hasn’t prevented the City of London from being … Continue reading
470 total views
Posted in Corporations, Economy, Labor/Economics, Tax policy
Tagged Corporations, economics, finance, taxes
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I Love My Job, But . . .
The University of Illinois is part of the US land-grant university system. Each state has a land-grant university that operates a Cooperative Extension Service, which provides non-formal education to agricultural producers and communities in each county in Illinois. I work … Continue reading
931 total views
Posted in Labor, Labor/Economics, Section, social services, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Tagged Labor, UIUC
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It’s Not a Labor Shortage, It’s a Workers’ Rights Shortage
The Great Uprising, the Great Resignation, even the unofficial General Strike: analysts and pundits—left, right and center—speak of mounting worker unrest in the US in awestruck terms. What these labels certainly do capture is the expansive scale of this unrest … Continue reading
1,239 total views
Posted in labor, Labor militancy, Labor/Economics
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Anarchism and the American Labor Movement
Anarchists, proponents of “anti-authoritarian socialism,” seek to abolish the state and capitalism. Anarchism replaces authoritarian governance and private ownership of resources with federations of self-managed industries and communities in which those affected by decisions participate in making them directly in … Continue reading
Posted in Anarchism, Anarcho-syndicalism, Labor, Labor/Economics, union solidarity
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What Can we Learn from The Amazon Union Vote in Bessemer, Alabama?
During the past year, as the pandemic reshaped our daily lives, the media has paid more attention to work and workers than it has in a long time. The pandemic has shone a spotlight on the deep inequalities that persist … Continue reading
Posted in Labor, Labor/Economics
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The University and its Workers during the Pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic has affected universities all over the country and the world. Different institutions have chosen different approaches, from keeping all courses online and discouraging students from returning (Smith College, Harvard University, etc.) to a full opening of residential … Continue reading
Posted in COVID pandemic, health, Labor, Labor/Economics, University of Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
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Governor Pritzker has the Power to Halt All Utility Shutoffs by Signing an Executive Order
Robin Brown’s utilities in Champaign were shut off by Ameren Illinois on September 18, 2020, in the midst of our historical COVID-19 pandemic. When asked about how utility shutoffs affected her, Brown said “I’ve had to give away and separate … Continue reading
Posted in Corporations, COVID pandemic, Economy, IL, Justice, Labor/Economics, State Government
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Disruptive Shift Changes for UIUC Custodial Staff
Jenni Walkup is a public anthropology MA student at American University who lives in Champaign. She works in education and writes about movements and social change. She’s very good at Bananagrams. In August, 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of … Continue reading
Posted in COVID-19, labor, Labor/Economics, University of Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
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SEIU Statement Regarding the Changes in the Building Services Department at UIUC
The University decided in mid-spring that it would reopen for the 2020 fall semester, a decision that would require drastic, “emergency” changes in our department and to the working conditions of SEIU members. Management didn’t notify union leadership until July … Continue reading
Posted in COVID-19, labor, Labor/Economics, University of Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
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The Pandemic and Pro Wrestling
In the November, 2019 Public i, I wrote about one of the earliest gig economies: professional wrestling. There, independent pro wrestler David Starr discussed the incredibly imbalanced power dynamics of the corporate wrestling scene in America. While watching corporations and … Continue reading
846 total views
Posted in Labor, Labor/Economics, Sports
Tagged COVID-19, Pro Wrestling
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