Labor in Illinois

LEP Update

April 24, 2009

www.illinoislabored.org

JOB: Chicago. United Association for Labor Education Treasurer Bob Ginsburg is looking for a part-time assistant. Pay is $2,520 to be paid as $105 twice a month. Mailings, checking mailbox, send out dues receipts, data entry, routine filing and file maintenance, other work as assigned. Work will take place at 70 East Lake Street, Suite 1700. Contact him at rginsburg@igc.org

SCHOLARSHIPS: Union Privilege at www.UnionPlus.org/college-education-financing/diversity-scholarships wants us to publicize their program. These scholarships cover non-credit as well as credit programs. That means that you can apply to Union Privilege in order to, for example, attend the full cycle of Statewide Labor Education Conferences or to attend individual labor education classes. They also cover childcare and travel to labor ed programs. Go to the website to read more. The application is in the middle of the page. The deadline is May 30.

April 27: Champaign. Remember the Staley lockout? Steven Ashby and CJ Hawking, authors of “Staley: The fight for a new American labor movement,” along with Staley workers, will read from and discuss this new book on Monday at 6:30 pm in Mumford Hall Room 103, (1301 West Gregory). Email skashby@illinois.edu for more information.

April 28: Effingham. Anne Feeney plays a free concert at the VFW, 2304 South Veterans Drive off South Fourth Street, 7:00 – 9:00 pm. Donations will be accepted for the Heartland Human Services workers who have been locked out since they offered unconditionally to go back to work last July. These workers are the “poster child” for the Employee Free Choice Act. Call 217-347-2936 to RSVP or for more information.

May Day (May 1): Chicago: Rally at 10 am, Union Park, corner of Ashland and Washington. The big march heads off at 12 noon. Reconvene at Haymarket (Randolph and DesPlaines) at 4:00 pm for dedication of a plaque from the AFL-CIO, a speakout about the Employee Free Choice Act, and a report by the President of UE Local 1110 at Republic Windows. The annual Illinois Labor History Society meeting will take place at 5 pm at the Musicians hall, 650 West Randolph, with Kim Bobo speaking on wage theft.

May 2: Champaign-Urbana: Celebrate May Day at the Central Illinois Social Forum, 1 pm to 12 midnight, at the Indy Media Center in downtown Urbana. Multiple workshops. There will be an anti-foreclosure/eviction group coming down from Chicago and activists from Charleston, Effingham, Decatur, Bloomington and Danville. For more information contact the Champaign-Urbana Jobs with Justice or Ricky Baldwin at 217-328-3037 or peoplespotluck@chambana.net

May 9: Chicago. What’s the backup plan in case EFCA doesn’t pass? It doesn’t hurt to think and act strategically. Come to the 2009 Chicago Troublemakers School at Malcolm X College on Saturday, May 9. Address: 1900 West van Buren, 9:00 am to 4:30 pm. www.labornotes.org/chicago to register online, or call 313-842-6262.

May 14-17: St. Charles. The annual Regina V. Polk Women’s Labor Leadership Conference. Focus on bargaining and the impact of the Employee Free Choice Act and other developments under Obama. Waiting list.

May 21: Danville. Conference on Older Workers: Achieving work satisfaction, Avoiding health and legal problems. Danville Area Community College Bremen Conference Center Contact: www.ocdanville.com or w.gingold@uiuc.edu

LEP SUMMER ONLINE CREDIT CLASSES

(For more information about the online program and to view course syllabi, go to the online section of our website www.illinoislabored.org)

12 week session May 12 - July 31

LIR 130 Introduction to Labor and Working Class History

LIR 200 Globalization and Workers

8 week sessions June 9 - July 31

LIR 100 Introduction to Labor Studies

LIR 110 Labor and Social Movements

LIR 120 Contemporary Labor Problems

STATEWIDE CONFERENCES

LEP offers a sequence of statewide labor conferences in Champaign. Our intent is to repeat these or other conferences, depending on requests and input from the labor movement, on an annual basis. The goal of these conferences is to:

* Engage current Illinois labor leaders, elected, staff and rank and file;
* Identify and develop future leaders;
* Encourage them to meet each other and learn each other’s issues;
* Help them stay up to date on a wide range of issues critical to the labor movement;
* Facilitate communication and action across unions, trades and workplaces;
* Move an effective labor agenda in our unions, workplaces and in the public sphere.

The schedule proposed for 2009-2010 is:

Union Communications: the Face and Voice of Labor

June 25-26-27

Union Education: Why teaching is the first step in organizing

July 23-24-25

Local Union Presidents Conference

September 24-25-26 (tentative)

Collective Bargaining: Negotiations and Contracts

October 29-30-31 (tentative)

Safety and Health at Work

January 28-29-30, 2010

The rate for all five conferences is $1300, payable in advance. The cost of each conference is $325, with a $275 early bird rate except for the Union Communications conference which is only $220 with a $200 early bird rate. Most meals are included but hotel reservations are separate. For registration details call Martha Kelley at 217-333-0980 or email her at memoore1@illinois.edu