Below are some photographs, videos and documents from struggles I have participated in recently. More information can be found in captions in the slideshows as well as on the hyperlinked websites.
Coworker attacked by police while driving a public transit bus
On Sept 12, 2009, I was driving the same route a coworker was driving the night he was beaten by an off-duty Chicago police officer. The cop beat my coworker two times in front of passengers and two other uniformed cops (who did not stop him). It was all caught on several cameras which were only partly released to the public. I wrote an article and put forward a resolution at our union. A Facebook group was also created, “Friends of Chicago Bus Operators.”
Cuts to Public Services: Organize and Resist!
Just after giving trillions of dollars to the largest companies and banks, many city and national governments around the world claimed that austerity programs were necessary because they claim “there is not enough money” for social services for working people. Around the world many rejected these claims and fought to stop the cuts. In Chicago, the teachers union organized students, teachers and members of their communities to protest the closing of public schools and the increasing of class sizes. [pictures] Transportation workers also organized protest demonstrations [pictures, pictures, pictures, pictures, slideshow]. To help combine and advance these struggles, several of us formed the group Public Workers United. At the time a short program was drafted that may be useful in the future. In response to the planned cuts in public transportation, supporters of transit workers went to the bus garages to meet and talk with workers [open letter]. We were not welcomed by management, but we used these disciplined tactics successfully. At the last minute, there was talk of a transit strike, but it would have been poorly prepared. There was discussion of a targeted work-to-rule job-action, but it did not occur, this time... Several of us worked with the labor media group, Labor Beat, to produce this video to educate the public about the overall situation.
Over 1000 workers laid off from the Chicago Transit Authority (including myself) February 2010
Right after the mass lay-off, I was fortunate to find temporary work driving the buses for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was quite an experience. [slideshow]. After the Olympics, I spent some time with family, then took a train trip across the west of the United States to look for work and explore several of our national parks. [slideshow] I had been studying with reading groups and auditing a graduate seminar on Karl Marx’s ‘Capital’ at the University of Chicago [notes for my presentation on the Communist Manifesto]. I continued researching and studying while travelling to the east coast of the United States. I got a chance to refresh my knowledge of the history of the first American revolution when I joined 175,000 workers who marched on the nation's capital [slideshow].
FBI Raids of international solidarity activists
While I was in Boston a few international solidarity organizers I know in Chicago were targeted by the FBI. Their homes were raided and their personal things were taken from them. As of the writing of this document, many of the people targeted are being called before an undemocratic grand jury. Information can be found here.
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