Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

Rahm Emanuel & Bruce Rauner On Jihad to Eliminate Unions in Chicago, says Former Union Organizer Jane McAlevey
01 Apr 2015
🖨️ Print Article

by Doug Henwood at KPFA's Behind The News

US living standards for ordinary people have deteriorated the last 40 years because Democrats and Republicans have systematically de-unionizeds the country, says former union organizer Jane McAlevey.  Illinois governor Bruce Rauner and Chicago's Mayor Rahm Emanuel are on a jihad to kill the last unions in Chicago, the better to impose more privatizations, cuts in child care, wages, education and more austerity.

McAlevey, author of "We Need Syriza Here In Illinois" published last month in The Nation, declares the distinction between people working in the so-called “public sector” and “private sector” is nonsense. There are not two economies, there is one, and there are not two ways that workers get treated, depending on whether they work for government or corporations, there is one.    She reminds us that real unions create traditions and institutions of internal democracy, which is not the same as "horizontalism" that they run strikes regularly, and that they are frequently led, as the Chicago Teachers Union was in 2012 by black women.  

McAlevey was a remarkably successful union organizer for SEIU in Nevada, a so-called right to work state.

Left economist Doug Henwood, among much else the host of KPFA's Behind the News, interviews Jane McAlevey on the connection between Bruce Rauner, Scott Walker and Rahm Emanuel, how the 2012 Chicago Teachers Union strike kept Mayor Rahm Emanuel from closing 100 Chicago public schools instead of just 50, and the ultimate collective power of organizing the workplace.

Catch Doug Henwood's program every week here.

McAlevey is the author of Raising Expectations, Raising Hell.

 

 

 

 

 



Your browser does not support the audio element.

listen
http://shout.lbo-talk.org/lbo/RadioArchive/2015/15_02_19.mp3

More Stories


  • Violence is Their Religion!: How Murder Gives the White Settler Purpose
    Jon Jeter
    Violence is Their Religion!: How Murder Gives the White Settler Purpose
    21 Jun 2023
    This episode of Black Republic Media is the second in a series entitled, Murder Inc: The White Settler Republic as Homicidal Maniac.
  • Jalil Muntaqim Reports from Venezuela on the Case of Alex Saab
    Jalil Muntaqim
    Jalil Muntaqim Reports from Venezuela on the Case of Alex Saab
    21 Jun 2023
    Jalil Muntaqim was invited to attend a conference in Venezuela regarding the case of diplomat Alex Saab, who was kidnapped by the United States three years ago and is still being held in prison.
  • The June Days – Senegal’s struggle for justice
    Review of African Political Economy
    The June Days – Senegal’s struggle for justice
    21 Jun 2023
    In Senegal supporters of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko protest his exclusion from next year's elections after a disputed conviction in a criminal case. 
  • Debunked: Media Falsely Claims China is Building Spy Base in Cuba
    Ben Norton
    Debunked: Media Falsely Claims China is Building Spy Base in Cuba
    21 Jun 2023
    Media outlets claimed China is building a secret station in Cuba to spy on the US, citing anonymous intelligence officials. But the Pentagon admitted this story is false. It is part of an information…
  • Canadian Looting of Zambian Resources Led to Debt Crisis
    Yves Engler
    Canadian Looting of Zambian Resources Led to Debt Crisis
    21 Jun 2023
    Canadian mining interests looted Zambia of its assets and created that nation's debt crisis.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us