Pat Barcas photo
Marching along South LaSalle Street in Chicago, people gathered on the two-year anniversary of the Citizens United ruling, making corporations people, to fight for an amendment.

By Pat Barcas
Staff Writer
CHICAGO — A suburban group helped spread the message in downtown Chicago Jan. 20 that corporations are not people.
The Wheaton activist group DuPage Coffeehouse organized simultaneously with dozens of other Move to Amend groups nationwide Jan. 20 on the two year anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. This court decision expands Constitutional First Amendment speech rights for corporations and reinforces the fiction that corporations are people.
About 100 protesters came by foot, car, and train to air their grievances in front of the Dirksen Federal Building in the Loop amidst the snowstorm. They then marched to Occupy Chicago for a solidarity protest.
Nancy Wade, Green Party candidate for the Senate seat in the 5th Congressional District, took to the megaphone and encouraged the crowd to lobby city council.
“Lobby your city council here in Chicago, try to get our city council to endorse a Move to Amend. Los Angeles has done it. New York has done it. We gotta do it here in Chicago,” she said.
The peaceful demonstration carried on with chants, educational leafleting, network building and speeches before marching west on Adams Street to LaSalle Street and south to the Occupy Chicago site at LaSalle and Jackson streets.
The crowd brought a surge of people to the Occupy corner, which previously held only four stalwarts that cold day.
“I think it’s great that everyone came out from the suburbs,” said Cecilia Green, a protester from Chicago who walked in at the beginning of the snowstorm. “I think the main issue is: Money is not speech. At least from my perspective. And the signs and the people out here tell the story. If corporations can’t be held accountable for their actions, why do they get the benefits but not the consequences?”
Wade said she is confident that the ruling can be overturned, it just takes perseverance.
“This is a multi-year process, but some amendments to the constitution have gone very, very quickly. We can do this, and we can do it fast if we work on it,” she said. “The thing to do is to get your communities to know what it is, to know why it’s important, and to get people on board. Never forget, a small, thoughtful group of committed citizens can change the world.”
A communication from the DuPage Coffeehouse group said that Move to Amend will “continue strategic planning, and, above all, action in 2012. The continuing goal is building grassroots momentum to amend the Constitution and get rid of this terrible Supreme Court ruling, and to fight the destruction of our democracy through the sheer force of big money.”

Pat Barcas’ e-mail address is pat@foxvalleylabornews.com.

Ryan Hosler photo
The Downer Place bridge, seen here, will undergo a complete renovation beginning next month after the Illinois Department of Transportation deemed it structurally deficient.

By Pat Barcas
Staff Writer
A major bridge construction project is underway in Aurora, a project that is providing many jobs for area contractors.
Temporary traffic signals were installed this week on Benton Street as part of the future detour route for the Downer Place bridge construction project, which is scheduled to begin in February and take about nine months to complete.
Contractor D Construction out of Coal City will be handling most of the major duties.
“We put the bid in through Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). We prefer to have Illinois contractors and keep it local,” said Chris Lirot, project engineer for the city of Aurora.
Lirot doesn’t have an estimate on how many jobs are provided by the project, but said it is large scale for Aurora.
“There will be a lot of different crews in there at different times, carpenters, electricians, laborers, everyone,” he said. “For the city of Aurora, this is one of our biggest projects. We’ve been working on it and preparing it for more than five years.”
Slated for demolition are both Downer Place bridges spanning the Fox River. They were originally built at the turn of the 20th century, have exceeded their useful life and have been deemed structurally deficient by the Illinois Department of Transportation.
New bridges will be built for the $7.83 million project, of which 80 percent was paid for through federal grants. The City also received a $500,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to help offset Aurora’s share.
When both bridges are shut down on Downer Place, traffic will be detoured south along Broadway Avenue to Benton Street, which will be designated a two-way road between Broadway and River street throughout the construction period. Motorists can head west on Benton Street, north on River Street and then continue west on Downer Place to complete the detour.
Temporary traffic signals will be installed this month along Benton Street at Broadway Avenue and River Street, but will not be activated until construction starts. Flashing red lights and stop signs will be placed along two Stolp Avenue intersections in February at Downer Place and Benton Street.
Motorists also are encouraged to use New York Street and North Avenue to bypass the Downer Place construction zone. Lirot said his team has put a lot of thought into easing traffic tensions during the construction.
“We’re going to try and make this as painless as possible in terms of traffic flow,” he said.
Residents, business owners and other community stakeholders wanting to monitor the progress of the Downer Place bridge project will be able to find information through several outlets, including:
Website: Visit the City’s website at www.aurora-il.org.
Email Updates: People can receive email updates on construction progress by visiting the City’s website at www.aurora-il.org. Under the “Get Your City News” box, click the “Email Updates” link and sign up.
Social Media: Updates will be provided on the City’s Facebook and Twitter accounts, which can be found on the City’s website at www.aurora-il.org.
ACTV: Tune in to Aurora Community Television Ch. 10 to view updates on the scrolling news bulletin boards.
Customer Service Center: Call the City’s Customer Service Center between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at 630-256-INFO.

Pat Barcas’ e-mail address is pat@foxvalleylabornews.com.

Pat Barcas photo
Margaret Blackshere inspires the crowd with a short history of her union positions, as well as telling the tale of how she managed to get a gun pointed at her while trying to help overseas workers working for slave wages at a computer factory.

By Pat Barcas
Staff Writer
DOWNERS GROVE — The Democratic Women of DuPage County hosted former President of the Illinois AFL-CIO Margaret Blackshere at its annual brunch in Downers Grove Jan. 21. Blackshere shared some inspirational stories of her work as a labor activist, and left the crowd with some solid advice.
“As we climb the ladder, and you all will, give a helping hand to the person that’s behind you on the ladder,” she said to applause.
Blackshere is a former kindergarten teacher who has served at all levels of the Illinois labor movement. She started as president of her local union in Madison, Ill. in the 1960s to statewide vice president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers. She served as Secretary-Treasurer of the Illinois AFL-CIO from 1993 to 2000 when she was elected President — the first woman to hold that position.
“I was raised in a household of women, it makes a difference,” said Blackshere of her sister siblings, and Catholic school upbringing. “There wasn’t anything my mom didn’t try to do. I thought, ‘Hey, I can do anything,’ and that’s how I was able to do everything,” she said.
She attend Catholic school because “it was the 1950s, and you gave one of your kids to the church, so I was the one.”
Quickly learning that being a nun was not for her, she asked to leave the school. The Mother Superior jokingly asked “Is Thursday soon enough?”
But she did take away some important life lessons from her time at the Catholic school.
“I learned early on, women can make decisions on their own and can make things happen,” she said.
Growing up in a union family, she next decided that her hometown of Madison, Ill. needed a teachers union.
“The reason we organized was not for pay, but for the fact they never asked us our input on the construction of all these new schools. We wanted a little respect for that college degree we had earned,” she said. “Hey, it was the 60s, you could do anything.”
While running for President of the Illinois AFL-CIO, she said she didn’t have to go negative in her campaign ads, but her opponent did, with negative results.
“The other flyer said, ‘we don’t need a kindergarten teacher running our unions.’”
The plan backfired when people wistfully remembered how great their kindergarten teachers were, and how they helped them early in life.
“Thank goodness I taught kindergarten, not high school history or something,” she joked.
Blackshere ended her speech with a story of visiting a computer factory on an island in Southeast Asia, a triumphant story that involved her having a gun pointed directly at her chest by a soldier.
She explained that she was with a labor group visiting this factory that made computer parts. The island solely housed factories, with young women employed there. In what amounted to basic slave labor, the women toiled for just $2 per day of pay, with rents to the company of $22 per month, all to live in squalid, drab dorms.
“Here come these old broads that want to make a difference,” she joked.
On the first day, Blackshere and her friends sang “Solidarity Forever” with the ladies, and got them at least thinking about organizing, which they deemed a success. A date for tea back at the dorms was set for the next day.
The government liason that was with Blackshere forbid this, saying the dorms were closed to outsiders, but the women snuck through a hole in the fence, saying they had made a promise, they had to go.
“Then people were following us as we’re making our way over there. Pretty soon a military truck shows up, with soldiers. I’ve got an AK-47 pointed at me, so we finally stopped going,” she said. “It was dead silent.”
She said they had to let the women know they were there, so they started singing “Solidarity Forever.”
“It was more like screaming, it was not a melodic piece at this point,” she said.
Pretty soon, they heard the women singing back from their dorms.
“We heard them singing to us. It was just one of those thing you never forget. I hope we got through to them,” said Blackshere.

Pat Barcas’ e-mail address is pat@foxvalleylabornews.com.

Jennifer Rice photo
Democrats who spoke at a recent candidates forum included, from left, Juan Thomas, candidate for the 11th District, Jonathan Farnick, candidate for the 14th District; Bill Foster, candidate for the 11th District; State Senator Linda Holmes for the 42nd District; Jeremy Ly, candidate for the 75th District; Carole Cheney, candidate for the 84th District; Natalie Manley, candidate for the 98th District and Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, candidate for the 49th District.

By Jennifer Rice
Managing Editor
OSWEGO – Last weekend, the Kendall County Democratic Central Committee and the Kendall County Democratic Women had seven candidates running for office participate in the Putting People First forum, held Jan. 21 at the Holiday Inn Express in Oswego.
Former Rep. Bill Foster and Juan Thomas were the only candidates present that are running against each other for nomination for the U.S. House seat in the newly created 11th District.
Foster is looking to deal with unfair foreign competition — particularly in manufacturing — and address issues like foreign intellectual property theft and getting China to adopt the U.S.’s free-market principals.
“We let China come into the World Trade Organization without having a strong agreement that it stop manipulating its currency,” Foster said. “I’m going to be working hard to understand how the system works, and how it’s not working,” he explained.
Thomas wants to be a voice for the people and a face in Congress who isn’t tied to big money or special interests. He’s tired of politicians first having to determine their political advantage before casting their vote.
He acknowledged he’s running against the political establishment and is aware that most local officials are supporting his opponent, Foster. “But I want to go to Congress and lead; and fight, and stand up when it’s uncomfortable,” Thomas said.
He’s seeing too many people that are disillusioned with the system, in particular, a 23-year-old man he met at Occupy Aurora who told Thomas he’s lost faith in the system. “He’s not just sick of the Republicans, he’s tired of our party too,” Thomas said. “We’re not doing what’s in the best interest of the people.”
Foster knows the most important issue constituents have is the need for living wage jobs. He knows finding solutions are no easy task, but can begin with addressing issues of intellectual property theft.
He explained companies are at a disadvantage when they pay $500,000 or more a year for software, while foreign companies use pirated software at no cost. Money used to purchase software could instead be put towards expanding a company or educating its workforce.
Candidate for the newly created 49th State Senate District, Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, said she’s never been so stuck on one issue that she can’t see the other side. Though her district is predominantly in Will County, with only 12 percent in Oswego, Bertino-Tarrant said she’s ready to represent every body.
Carole Cheney, candidate for the newly created 84th House District, wants to focus on small businesses, “as they are the backbone of society and build our whole economy,” she said. In Springfield, she’d like to concentrate on having a robust small business program.
While walking door-to-door, candidate for Rep. in the 98th District, Natalie Manley, said she noticed Democratic voters are angry and are holding politicians accountable for their actions. “And I like that,” Manley said.
She acknowledged she has moderate and liberal social views, but as an account, she also has fiscally conservative views.
Jonathan Farnick explained he’s running in the 14th District because he’s tired of showing up to vote, only to find there was no Democratic running for office.
He boldly explained he’s not taking any money for his campaign because he feels there is already too much money in politics. “Most politicians are beholden to too many people for the wrong reasons,” Farnick said.
Jeremy Ly, a life-long resident of Minooka, is running for Rep. in the 75th District. As a current Grundy County Board member, he beat an 18-year incumbent for the seat. “I want to fight for the American dream, as I’m the product of the American dream,” Ly said.
His priorities are jobs, education and making sure residents lives within their means. He’d like to clean up U.S. tax codes and close corporate tax loops while holding the line on taxes for middle Americans.

Jennifer Rice’s e-mail address is Jen@foxvalleylabornews.com.

Pat Barcas photo
Fox Valley United Way CEO Michael Meyer speaks to guests at the unveiling of the SPARK program last Thursday in Aurora.

By Pat Barcas
Staff Writer
Just under half of Aurora’s preschool-aged children participate in school-readiness preschool programs, compared to a figure of 95 percent participation elsewhere statewide. The Fox Valley United Way unveiled a program last Thursday that aims to change that number in Aurora, and give all children a chance to become better prepared when they enter kindergarten.
The two year matching grant program, called SPARK (Strong, Prepared And Ready for Kindergarten,) is backed by the Dunham Fund, the city of Aurora and the East Aurora, West Aurora, Indian Prairie and Oswego school districts.
Each entity has pledged $15,000 for the program, with the Dunham Fund pledging to match up to $125,000 in donations for each of the next two years. About $230,000 has been raised for the program in 2012 so far. The Dunham Fund is a private foundation established in 2006 to honor the legacy of Aurora businessman and philanthropist John C. Dunham.
The community-backed SPARK initiative looks to improve the success of schoolchildren by strengthening their school-readiness skills: early literacy, math and vocabulary skills, social skills, and self control. This can be achieved through a variety of methods, from the expansion of public school programs to the training of home day care providers.
Fox Valley United Way CEO Michael Meyer quoted research conducted by early childhood expert Theresa Hawley, which indicates that what children learn before age three has “profound consequences for their eventual readiness to succeed in school and beyond.”
Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner agrees.
“It seems cliché: Our children are our future. But how true it is,” said Weisner. “Whose responsibility is it to give them the tools they need to succeed? All of ours. Today marks a beginning of a new partnership between families, community, and school.”
West Aurora school district Superintendent James Rydland said his district has a longstanding commitment to early learning.
“SPARK can light up our community, light up an opportunity for us to really make sure we’re focusing on children and making sure that all those children have a bright future,” he said.

Pat Barcas’ e-mail address is pat@foxvalleylabornews.com.

By Jennifer Rice
Managing Editor
CHICAGO – Having the right coverage to protect your union or labor organization can mean more savings for members and less headaches for management. There are hundreds of insurance groups in the Chicagoland area, but very few focus on the specific needs of unions or labor organizations — but Union Insurance Group (UIG) does.
UIG began carving its path into insuring unions more than 15 years ago, when UIG President Chris DeCaigny realized Boilermakers Local 1 in Chicago was having difficulty acquiring insurance. “It was at a time when unions had problems getting commercial insurance,” said Alicia Fidler, director of marketing for UIG. “Back then, some carriers weren’t even willing to write a general liability policy for unions,” she said. Also, if a union was able to secure a carrier — it was paying exorbitantly high prices for coverage.
DeCaigny identified the need to offer specialized union insurance at competitive prices and started UIG — with the Boilermakers as his first clients.
Now, 15 years later, UIG has expanded to meet the needs of about 2,500 labor organizations across the country, which ranges from locals, internationals, councils, joint apprenticeship and training committees and Taft-Hartley Funds.
“Because we have such a huge base, we have stronger buying power and we’re able to be very competitive with pricing,” Fidler explained.
UIG is a different type of insurance group because of its Capital Stewardship program, which uses union contractors, products and services whenever possible. This program is one of a kind, creating union jobs by guaranteeing its clients the right to hire union contractors in the event of a claim.
“You’ll find most carriers want to go with the most inexpensive option — which usually means non-union workers will be used for the claim to be paid, and that causes issues with locals,” Fidler explained. With this guarantee, UIG is reinvesting in the union economy by securing jobs in a variety of trades and industries across the country.
Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 501 Training Coordinator Don Stunkle said UIG’s Capital Stewardship progam is an important aspect of UIG. “UIG is labor looking out for labor. They go out and look for the best deal they can for the type of insurance product you need as an organized labor entity,” Stunkle said. Local 501 has used UIG for eight years.
Unions and labor organizations making the switch to UIG are seeing a saving up to $30,000 a year. Fidler said the most frustrating aspect of meeting prospective clients is the loyalty they display to its current insurance company. “We can appreciate loyalty, but when UIG has the potential to save a local 20 to 30 percent and guarantee union contractors will work in the event of a claim — loyalty should be directed in the right place,” she said.
“Union insurance is our specialty and it’s all we do,” Fidler added.
Non-union insurance groups may miss specific coverage that would be beneficial to unions. As an example, Fidler explained that if a local was sued for breach of duty of fair representation or discrimination, a local needs a specific policy designed for unions. Unless an agent is familiar with these specific union needs, this coverage is easily overlooked.
“Also, individual officers are sometimes bare when it comes to coverage and legal fees can get extremely high very fast,” Fidler said. In the event an officer is named in a suit, they may have to pay out-of-pocket, risking their homes and livelihood.
“But with a policy that is designed for unions, there is a rider you can get for the individual officers, so if they are personally named, it kicks in and covers them so they aren’t paying out-of-pocket. These small details are extremely important,” Fidler explained.
UIG offers free, no obligation quotes and makes the process as easy as possible on unions. There are no strings attached or fees to pay. Proposals are spelled out in a user-friendly way. “You don’t have to be an insurance genesis to figure it out,” Fidler said with a laugh.
Proposals point out the differences between a local’s current insurance provider and what UIG can offer. “Sometimes we discover buildings are undervalued and that makes a big difference,” Fidler said. “Often it’s the first time a local has seen what’s in its policy.”
Stunkle said UIG is truly an independent that looks out for organized labor. “They do a very good job of looking out for all facets of organized labor to make sure the coverage you have is tailored for you,” he explained.
To get a free, no obligation quote from UIG, call 888-200-4545 or visit www.uigins.com.

Jennifer Rice’s e-mail address is Jen@foxvalleylabornews.com.

Pat Barcas photo
More than 100 protesters marched on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in front of the Anton Dvorak School in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood.

By Pat Barcas
Staff Writer
CHICAGO — Members of the North Lawndale community in Chicago rallied Monday in response to attacks against the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and discrimination against teachers of color.
The two rallies, held in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., took place at Marquette and Dvorak Schools. Protesters included CTU teachers and parents who criticized corporate education reform which they claim has resulted in the launching of largely segregated “charter” schools, racially discriminatory school closings, and mass teacher firings (so-called “turnarounds”) that fire teachers of color at a higher rate.
Action Now, a community activist group that dominated the protest, claims that Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has a pattern of neglecting neighborhood schools in low-income minority communities and then suddenly remodeling and pouring resources into the school right before a “turnaround” is announced.
“People come in measuring test scores like they’re going to clean up the school, make it better,” said Barb Schwartz, a teacher at Herzl Elementary. “What do they need to do that for? We already brought up the scores. We did it ourselves, without help.”
Schwartz and others protested on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to highlight the fact that the racial and econonomic disparities that Dr. King saw when he lived in North Lawndale 45 years ago still exist today in Chicago’s education system.
In 1966, Dr. King moved his family into a North Lawndale apartment to start a campaign against housing discrimination in which he led a march through Marquette Park. Today, Marquette Elementary School is 99 percent African-American and Latino. The CTU and Action Now claim that the CPS has starved the school of resources and now threatens it with a scorched-Earth “turnaround.”
Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis called the new corporate education model unproven and disruptive.
“Education justice is the civil rights issue of our day,” said Lewis in a release. “I am pleased to join these parents, teachers and their students in the fight to save Marquette school from takeover by the Academy of Urban School Leadership (AUSL). This unproven turnaround model is disruptive, not only to the staff but also the children who are kept in under-resourced schools. Imagine the leaps in student academic performance and the increased retention of qualified teachers if CPS invested in the transformation of schools rather than destroying them. Fifteen years of failed experiments by CPS have had a devastating impact on our students and neighborhoods.”
Dvorak parent Lisa Russell voiced her concern at the rally in front of the school, saying she sees the writing on the wall.
“I don’t think the schools are failing, I think the system is failing the schools. You ask CPS for more resources for your school for years and years and you never get them, but then all of a sudden you start getting things when they are about to close the school or turn it into a charter,” said Russell. “… Every time we hit the bar for progress that CPS demanded, they would raise it higher so that no matter how much we got better, it was never enough. They were setting us up to fail.”

Pat Barcas’ e-mail address is pat@foxvalleylabornews.com.