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The BobboSphere · 3d ago

Chicago Mercantile Exchange Entrance Blocked As Protesters Criticize Huge Tax Break

Seniors, people with disabilities and health care workers blocked the front entrance to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange(CME) Wednesday around 9:30 this morning, as well the adjacent Jackson and LaSalle Streets. Police moved in about half an hour later and ordered people to clear the streets or face
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The BobboSphere · 1W ago

Caterpillar Machinists Strike Is Now 2 Weeks Old & Holding Steady

“Caterpillar has work plans, processes, policies and people ready to be deployed in the event of any business interruption, whether it is a tornado, fire or a strike.”—Caterpillar spokesperson Rusty Dunn: April 30, 2012 Thanks for nothing, Rusty Dunn. You just equated 780 striking Caterpillar worker
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The BobboSphere · 2W ago

They Call Themselves the Troublemakers Union

Over the weekend of May 4-6, 1500 union members, workers’ center activists and working class rebels gathered at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Rosemont IL for the biennial Labor Notes Conference. Labor Notes is the monthly magazine for labor activists who “want to put the movement back into the labor mov
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The BobboSphere · 3W ago

Addie Wyatt 1924-2012: A Life of Christian Faith & Labor Solidarity

How does a person of faith live a purposeful life in a world gone wrong?  Where does a moral vision come from, a vision that can thrive despite the inevitable blows that fall upon it? I’ve been thinking about that a lot since Addie Wyatt, the celebrated South Side Chicago labor leader died in March
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The BobboSphere · 1M ago

A Saturday Health Fair on Woodlawn Ave

It’s a long ride on the CTA Green Line from Oak Park to 63rd and Woodlawn Ave where the Mental Health Movement has occupied an unused lot in front of the Woodlawn clinic. I’ve taken that ride several times in the past week or so, most recently on Saturday April 21st for the Mental Health [...]
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The BobboSphere · 1M ago

Occupy Mental Health!

While riding the El down to the Monday morning press conference by Chicago’s Mental Health Movement, I couldn’t help but reflect on Rahm’s Emanuel’s problems with obsessive-compulsive disorder. He is obsessive about funneling money to Chicago’s wealthy and compulsive about his attacks on services fo
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The BobboSphere · 1M ago

The Time I Was Busted by an Alabama State Trooper——in Maryland?

For George Corley Wallace, his 1972 Presidential campaign swing through Maryland was one seriously bad trip. He was met by riots in Hagerstown and Frederick, by loud counter demonstrations at Wheaton Plaza and Capital Plaza near DC and was seriously wounded by  gunfire in Laurel. And me? I managed t
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The BobboSphere · 1M ago

Occupy Transit! Transit Workers and the Occupy Movement Team Up

Calling mass transit “a genuine civil rights issue,” the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), which represents transit workers across the nation, joined with the Occupy Movement, community organizations and transit riders to demand a revitalization of our transit systems. Citing such problems as “older
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The BobboSphere · 1M ago

Hey Rahm Emanuel: Libraries Are Sacred Spaces

“I received the fundamentals of my education in school, but that was not enough. My real education, the superstructure, the details, the true architecture, I got out of the public library. For an impoverished child whose family could not afford to buy books, the library was the open door to wonder a
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The BobboSphere · 2M ago

The Social Worker and the Massacre: A Chicago Labor Story

May 30th 1937: Thirty-one year old Hull House social worker Guadalupe “Lupe” Marshall stood amongst the crowd  in front of Sam’s Place on a warm afternoon. Approximately 1500 people were there to rally support for Chicago steel workers. Marshall was researching Mexican workers in the labor movement.
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