Category Archives: labor

The Struggle for Land and Housing Justice in Urban South Africa

Posted on 10/06/2025 by Public i

This article is a distillation of a recent conversation with UIUC-based urban justice educator Ken Salo and his Cape Town, South Africa-based comrade Bevil Lucas by the Public i’s Rick Esbenshade. Ken and Bevil are veterans of the 1976 student- … Continue reading →

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GEO Bargaining: “The University Works When We Do”

Posted on 10/06/2025 by Kathleen McGowan

The research assistants (RAs) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have officially joined GEO, the Graduate Educators Organization (GEO Local 6300 IFT/AFT AFL-CIO) at UIUC. The organization now represents teaching assistants (TAs), graduate assistants (GAs), pre-professional graduate assistants (PGAs), and … Continue reading →

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Posted in labor, Labor/Economics, union soldarity, University of Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on GEO Bargaining: “The University Works When We Do”

Unions and Immigrants: The Past and the Present

Posted on 08/20/2025 by Pat Simpson

This article is the first of a two-part analysis of the relation between unions and immigrant workers. In an upcoming issue, the focus will be on campus unions at UIUC and their efforts to protect international students and undocumented workers. … Continue reading →

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Posted in Immigrants, Immigration, labor, labor history, Labor/Economics, Racism, Section, union soldarity, Xenophobia | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Unions and Immigrants: The Past and the Present

ICE Strikes in East Urbana: Roofing Crew Disappeared with Barely a Trace

Posted on 08/19/2025 by Brian Dolinar

This article appeared on the author’s Substack on June 24, 2025. It has been lightly edited for style. At least eight men were taken by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in East Urbana in the early morning hours of Tuesday, … Continue reading →

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Belden Fields: Organizer for Justice

Posted on 06/30/2025 by Jim Barrett

Anyone who knew Belden Fields understands that he was an institution in Champaign-Urbana, someone who injected a message of social justice into our daily lives. Everyone will have their own way of remembering him. He was very smart, very funny, … Continue reading →

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Posted in Chief Illiniwek, In Memoriam, labor, Sanctuary movement, socialism | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Belden Fields: Organizer for Justice

Belden’s Work in the Union of Professional Employees and Campus Faculty Association

Posted on 06/30/2025 by Al Kagan

I worked closely with Belden in the Union of Professional Employees (UPE) and later in the Campus Faculty Association (CFA). UPE voted to change its name to CFA in 2007. This article is an attempt to reconstruct Belden’s work in … Continue reading →

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Posted in Academy on Capitalism and Limited Government, In Memoriam, labor, Labor/Economics, Section, union soldarity, University of Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Belden’s Work in the Union of Professional Employees and Campus Faculty Association

Is the Strike Back?

Posted on 07/29/2024 by Jim Barrett

This article has been adapted by the author from his talk at the Strike School event at the IMC on May 5. For almost two centuries the strike has been the characteristic and most important form of protest for working-class … Continue reading →

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Posted in Economy, Inequality, labor, Labor militancy, Labor/Economics, Section, union soldarity | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Is the Strike Back?

Coalition of Labor Union Women for Champaign County

Posted on 05/02/2024 by Stephanie Fortado

On the evening of March 27 more than 30 people representing about a dozen labor unions and community groups gathered at the Plumbers Local 149 Union Hall in Savoy to launch a chapter of the Coalition of Labor Union Women … Continue reading →

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Posted in Feminism, Labor, Labor/Economics, Section, union soldarity, Voices, Women, Women | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Coalition of Labor Union Women for Champaign County

May/June Issue Back Cover

Posted on 05/02/2024 by Public i

HAPPY MAY 1 FROM THE PUBLIC I!  644 total views

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Who is Un-American?

Posted on 02/11/2024 by Aimee Rickman

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 →

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Posted in Feminism, labor, Labor militancy, Labor/Economics, Section, Voices, Women, Women, wonen's rights | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Who is Un-American?

For Whom the Bell Tolls

Posted on 08/27/2023 by Pat Simpson

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 →

 1,628 total views,  1 views today

Posted in children, labor, Labor/Economics, Section, union soldarity, Worker Health and Safety | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on For Whom the Bell Tolls

UIUC GEO Wins a Progressive Contract

Posted on 07/18/2023 by Essam A. B. Elkorghli

Graduate workers across the US have been hard-hit by the skyrocketing inflation induced by federal mismanagement of monetary policy that is being felt by all too many working-class people. The laughable wage increases that were “handed” to many low-paid workers … Continue reading →

Posted in labor, Labor/Economics, Public Universities, Section, Students, union soldarity, University of Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Voices | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on UIUC GEO Wins a Progressive Contract

Faculty and Staff Strike at Eastern Illinois University

Posted on 05/01/2023 by Public i

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 →

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Growing Up “Unlucky”: Putting a Human Face on Bureau of Labor Statistics

Posted on 05/01/2023 by C. Owen

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 →

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Posted in African American history, African Americans, Economics, Labor, Labor/Economics, Racism, Section | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Growing Up “Unlucky”: Putting a Human Face on Bureau of Labor Statistics

Graduate Employees Go Wild—For Unionization

Posted on 02/10/2023 by Pat Simpson

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 →

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Posted in Education, Education, labor, Labor militancy, Labor/Economics, Public Universities, Section, union soldarity | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Graduate Employees Go Wild—For Unionization

GEO at UIUC 10 Months into Contract Negotiations

Posted on 02/10/2023 by Karen Medina

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 →

 1,458 total views

Posted in labor, Labor/Economics, Section, University of Illinois, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on GEO at UIUC 10 Months into Contract Negotiations

Labor Abuse as Product Placement at the World Cup

Posted on 12/31/2022 by Janice Jayes

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 →

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Posted in International, International, labor, Labor/Economics, Middle East, Section, Sports | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Labor Abuse as Product Placement at the World Cup

The Move toward Socialism in the United States

Posted on 11/04/2022 by Jim Barrett

People on the Left are understandably preoccupied with the growing strength of fascism, white supremacist and antisemitic rhetoric and violence, and the growth of extreme right-wing groups. There is no doubt that these developments represent an obstacle to badly needed … Continue reading →

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A Time of Monsters: The New Nadir and the Crisis of the Black Worker

Posted on 09/18/2022 by Gus Wood

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 →

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March Issue Front Cover

Posted on 03/31/2022 by Public i

WOMEN”S HISTORY MONTH ISSUE  1,224 total views

 1,224 total views

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