A year ago I reported from the fifth year anniversary of Chicago’s Congress Park Hotel strike. I’m sorry to say that today, one year later, I joined an even larger throng of marching, chanting, protesting Chicagoans along Michigan Avenue.
It’s not all bad – there have been encouraging signs that the strike is having an impact. [...]
Archive for the ‘Labor’ Category
Congress Hotel: Six Years of Worker Injustice
Posted in Current Events, Labor on June 16, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Prom Hero Hailed!
Posted in Labor, Pesach on April 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
So GREAT to hear Sam Hamer’s stand for worker justice featured on NPR!
Chicago Public Radio WBEZ reported today on Sam’s efforts to convince his High School prom committee to pull out of the Congress Hotel, site of the longest running labor strike in the country.
And just in time for Pesach. Click here to hear the [...]
Prom Justice!
Posted in Labor on March 18, 2009 | 10 Comments »
Here’s a story that can’t help but inspire: last month Northside College Preparatory, an elite Chicago public high school, announced they’d be holding their prom at the infamous Congress Park Hotel – site of the longest ongoing labor strike in US history. I blogged about the 5th anniversary protest last year, [...]
Tyra Banks: Friend of the Working Man
Posted in Labor on September 5, 2008 | 1 Comment »
In a previous blog post I discussed the Congress Hotel strike in Chicago, America’s longest running labor strike at five years and counting. The saga unfolds: it turns out that none other that “America’s Next Top Model” was prepared to cross the picket line when they announced they would be holding auditions at the Congress [...]
Honor Labor Rights on Labor Day
Posted in Labor, Labor Day, Politics on August 31, 2008 | 1 Comment »
You shall not abuse a needy and destitute laborer, whether a fellow countryman or a stranger in one of the communities of your land.
(Deuteronomy 24:14)
Want to do something meaningful this Labor Day? Consider supporting the The Employee Free Choice Act: bipartisan legislation that promotes the right to join a union as a fundamental [...]
Demanding Justice in Postville
Posted in Civil Rights, Immigration, Interfaith, Labor, Politics, Religion on July 28, 2008 | 14 Comments »
I spent an incredible day yesterday in Postville, Iowa, where an interfaith mobilization of nearly 1,500 people prayed, marched, sang and testified in solidarity with the 390 immigrant Agriprocessor workers arrested in the May 12 raid. I’m still processing the experience the morning after – suffice to say this action provided a powerful ray of [...]
Prayer for a Vigil at a Detention Center
Posted in Human Rights, Immigration, Interfaith, Labor, Prayer, Religion on June 20, 2008 | 4 Comments »
Tonight I was back at the Broadview Detention Center – a facility west of Chicago where undocumented workers are processed before their final deportation. I was there to participate in the “Night of 1,000 Conversations” – a program sponsored by the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. The all-night vigil offered an evening of [...]
Shande on Michigan Ave.
Posted in Current Events, Judaism, Labor, News, Religion on June 13, 2008 | 4 Comments »
I spent my afternoon yesterday with 1,000 other demonstrators in front of the Congress Park Hotel on Chicago’s Michigan Ave. – the site of the longest ongoing labor strike in the country. Marking the fifth anniversary of the strike, it was certainly the largest labor demonstration this city has seen in some time.
Some shameful stats: [...]
Awaken to Justice!
Posted in American Judaism, Food, Immigration, Judaism, Labor, Religion on June 9, 2008 | 2 Comments »
What can you say about the situation at the AgriProcessors meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa other than it was the kind of thing for which the term “shandeh fur de goyim” was invented?
The Jewish world has been seriously abuzz about this whole big mess for a several weeks running now. If by chance you haven’t [...]
“And You Will Incur Guilt…”
Posted in Children's Rights, Food, Immigration, Judaism, Labor, Religion, Torah Commentary on September 12, 2008 | 1 Comment »
From this week’s Torah portion, Ki Tetzei:
You shall not abuse a needy and destitute laborer, whether a fellow countryman or a stranger in one of the communities of your land. You must pay him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets, for he is needy and urgently depends on it, else he [...]
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