Category Archives: Labor/Economics

Flex-n-Gate Disaster, Just the Latest Chapter in a Toxic Story

By Ricky Baldwin When news broke this summer that a toxic cloud of sulfuric acid at a local plant had sent eleven local workers to the hospital, horrific as the story was, many in the area were not all that … Continue reading

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My Experiences with Worker-Owned Businesses

Walter Matherly       (Bio–After six years working in Africa and Latin America for the International Division of The Borden Company in 1954, Walter Matherly got a graduate degree in Economics from Duke and began a career in economic … Continue reading

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CAPITALISM IS NOT IN CRISIS

Though many suffer, the crash of 2008 was not as system threatening as in 1929. The financial turmoil of the past five years reminds many of the crash of 1929, which led into the Great Depression of the 1930s.  That … Continue reading

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New Generation of Argentine Cooperatives for development and real democracy: The Case of Initia

 Arnaldo T. Soltermann is Development Laboratory Director, for the Chemistry Department, Rio Cuarto National University. Republic Argentina. He is also President of Initia Workers Cooperative of Argentina. Professor Soltermann is currently on a short visit to the Chemistry Department at … Continue reading

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U of I Adds Insult to Injury and AFSCME Fights Back

by K. D. Swan AFSCME Local 698 (technical) and 3700 (clerical) employees at UIUC represent more than 1,500 who have worked without a contract since last August.  Contract talks have dragged nearly a year.  The management bargaining team’s typical responses … Continue reading

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The End of the European Union?

Rick Esbenshade May 9 is officially proclaimed as “Europe Day” by the European Union (EU)—an official, symbolic holiday ignored by most Europeans. This year, any celebration was overshadowed by the May 6 election results in France and Greece, in which … Continue reading

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Argentina’s Critics Get It Wrong Again

Mark Weisbrot This article was published in The Guardian (UK) on April 18, 2012 (www.guardian.co.uk./commentsfree/cifamerica/2012/april/18/argentina-critics-0il-nationalize)   The Argentine government’s decision to re-nationalize its formerly state-owned oil and gas company, YPF, has been greeted with howls of outrage, threats, forecasts of rage … Continue reading

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The Union-Cooperative Model: A Key to Economic Democracy

By Belden Fields  Worker cooperatives can take a variety of forms. Each one tends to have unique aspects; however there are some overarching types that we can identify. There are retail consumer coops, service coops, and producer coops.   In … Continue reading

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BOT Speech

First of all, I would like to thank the Board for granting me the opportunity to address them. I am here to discuss an issue at the local Flex-N-Gate auto-parts plant that is actively harming our entire community and threatening … Continue reading

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The International Year of Cooperatives: The Change We Have Been Waiting For

It would seem that when a systemic crisis arises, the problem is identified as either the market (the Banks!) or the state (entitlement programs!). Yet, in a perversely twisted line of logic, the corrective solution for such crises is either … Continue reading

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Growing Community Through Local Capital

Jacqueline Hannah Jacqueline Hannah is a 15 year resident of C-U and the general manager of Common Ground Food Co-op in Urbana. She’s passionate about growing the cooperative movement and being a part of the health and vitality of her … Continue reading

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FLEX N GATE WORKERS FIGHT FOR HEALTH, LIVING WAGES AND JUSTICE IN URBANA ILLINOIS

CENTRAL ILLINOIS JOBS WITH JUSTICE FLEX N GATE WORKERS FIGHT FOR HEALTH, LIVING WAGES AND JUSTICE IN URBANA ILLINOIS WHY A BILLIONAIRE CANT AFFORD SAFETY EQUIPMENT OR LIVING WAGES ? Billionaire Shahid Kahn, owner of Flex N Gate Incorporated, manafactures bumpers for the … Continue reading

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International Capitalism Writ Large in Our Community

By Jimmi Jay Flex-N-Gate is a multi-national corporation that manufactures auto parts ranging from bumpers and hinges to pedal systems and instrument panels for major automakers including BMW, Ford, Nissan, and Toyota. In 2011, Flex-N-Gate reported $2.5 billion in annual … Continue reading

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Winning the Bread

By Nancy Dietrich Dietrich works for the University of Illinois and lives in Urbana. This piece (which has been slightly modified) was originally published as a Guest Commentary in the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette. Awhile back, a male friend disclosed to me … Continue reading

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“Shut Down the Mills!”: Women, the Modern Strike, and Revolution

By Berenice Carroll Women’s nonviolent direct action has a more extensive history and has been more influential in the history of political action for social change than is generally recognized. One of the most important contributions of women to the … Continue reading

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Crisis for U of I President Hogan

U of I President Michael Hogan had little reason to enjoy his winter vacation. Not even his $600,000 plus salary could buy him a break.  Sometime around mid-semester, Hogan probably thought he was on a roll. His Enrollment Management Plan … Continue reading

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The US Today: Economic Stagnation, Political Paralysis

Mark Weisbrot   First published in the Guardian guardian.co.uk, Friday 7 October 2011   Given mass unemployment and stimulus spending blocked in Washington, no wonder people are taking to the streets The monthly employment report for September, released Friday, shows … Continue reading

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Hard Up for Work

By Ricky Baldwin Mary is laid off from her job in food service at the University of Illinois four times a year for a total of four and a half months. During this time, she does not count as unemployed. … Continue reading

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Credit as a Cover for Cutbacks Over the Past Thirty Years

By Michael Brün Two facts are important for understanding our current economic situation and how we got here. The first is that the finance industry has grown from comprising less than one tenth of our economy in the 80s to … Continue reading

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Consumer Debt’s Central Role in Finance-led Capitalism and Class Warfare-An Organizing Opportunity

“For at least five thousand years, popular movements have tended to center on struggles over debt—this was true long before capitalism even existed. There is a reason for this. Debt is the most efficient means ever created to take relations … Continue reading

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