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


  • Black Agenda Radio February 24, 2023
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio February 24, 2023
    24 Feb 2023
    This week we learn about an effort in Mississippi to undo Black political power, and we’ll hear some of my commentary on the U.S. role in the Ukraine conflict, and support for Mumia Abu Jamal among…
  • The Impact of Cobalt Extraction on the Congo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    The Impact of Cobalt Extraction on the Congo
    24 Feb 2023
    Maurice Carney is Executive Director of Friends of the Congo. He joins us to discuss cobalt, one of Congo’s mineral resources and one that plays a large role in green energy projects. But Congo’s…
  • The State of Mississippi Fights Jackson's Black Leadership
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    The State of Mississippi Fights Jackson's Black Leadership
    24 Feb 2023
    Nsombi Lambright is Executive Director of One Voice, a statewide non-profit located in Jackson, Mississippi. She joins us to discuss a legislative proposal to create a new court system within the…
  • Ukraine One Year On
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Ukraine One Year On
    24 Feb 2023
    Margaret Kimberley participated in a February 21 webinar sponsored by the United National Anti-War Coalition, Ukraine One Year On. These are excerpts of her remarks.
  • No to War, No to NATO: North American Perspectives on Ukraine, Russia, and NATO
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    No to War, No to NATO: North American Perspectives on Ukraine, Russia, and NATO
    24 Feb 2023
    Margaret Kimberley was a panelist on a February 19 webinar entitled “No to War, No to NATO: North American perspectives on Ukraine, Russia, and NATO” which was hosted by the organization World Beyond…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us