Category Archives: Labor

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

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

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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March Issue Front Cover

Posted on 03/31/2022 by Public i

WOMEN”S HISTORY MONTH ISSUE  642 total views

 642 total views

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Union Women on the Move

Posted on 03/31/2022 by Pat Simpson

Hopeful signs of a labor resurgence are everywhere. Despite another decline in the unionized percentage of the labor force and the stalemate in efforts at labor law reform, new frontiers in union organizing have emerged, strikes are on the upswing, … Continue reading →

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I Love My Job, But . . .

Posted on 03/31/2022 by Del Jacobs

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 →

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Posted in Labor, Labor/Economics, Section, social services, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Tagged , | Comments Off on I Love My Job, But . . .

On the Front Lines of the Climate Crisis: Our Farmworkers Face Heat’s Deadly Dangers

Posted on 09/23/2021 by Pat Simpson

Heat kills, and it kills farmworkers with distressing regularity. The list of the dead includes migrants like 17-year-old Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez in the grape fields of California; 38-year-old Francisco Perez working in a tree nursery outside Portland; Miguel Angel … Continue reading →

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Posted in Farmworkers, Immigrants, Labor, Worker Health and Safety | Comments Off on On the Front Lines of the Climate Crisis: Our Farmworkers Face Heat’s Deadly Dangers

Anarchism and the American Labor Movement

Posted on 05/26/2021 by Jeff Stein

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 →

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What Can we Learn from The Amazon Union Vote in Bessemer, Alabama?

Posted on 05/26/2021 by Stephanie Fortado

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 →

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The University and its Workers during the Pandemic

Posted on 10/27/2020 by Kathryn Oberdeck

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 | Comments Off on The University and its Workers during the Pandemic

The Pandemic and Pro Wrestling

Posted on 06/04/2020 by Neil Parthun

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 →

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GEO Drive to Survive Rally

Posted on 05/01/2020 by Nick Goodell

The Public i has received this press release from the Graduate Employees’ Organization. We have published it in its entirety below. ———————————————————————————————————- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 30, 2020 CONTACT: Owen MacDonald 913-944-2676 ojmacdonald@gmail.com GRADUATE WORKERS’ DRIVE TO SURVIVE MAY DAY … Continue reading →

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Fighting for the Soul of Public Education

Posted on 03/18/2020 by Stephanie Fortado

The administration of the University of California, Santa Cruz announced on Friday, February 28 that it would fire fifty-four graduate instructors who are on strike at the University. The announcement comes as the latest move in a nation-wide wave of … Continue reading →

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Anti-Union Rauner, Koch Brothers Aim at a Nation of Wisconsins

Posted on 05/04/2018 by Ricky Baldwin

By Ricky Baldwin Ricky Baldwin is a longtime community and union organizer who lives in Urbana. Anticipating the Janus decision discussed elsewhere in this issue, Central Illinois Jobs With Justice (JWJ) held a public discussion on February 18 in the … Continue reading →

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