Chicago, IL – Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) held its annual convention from October 1-3 in Chicago. Rank-and-file union activists from around the country traveled there to plan out the next steps for the upcoming international union election. TDU is supporting the reformer O’Brien-Zuckerman slate against the other slate, which is backed by the Hoffa old guard within the Teamsters union.

Chicago, IL – One year after playing a leading role in the George Floyd Rebellion that swept the U.S. in the summer of 2020, the Black-led National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression is convening again in Chicago. The storied organization, originally founded in 1973 from the National Committee to Free Angela Davis and All Political Prisoners, was reestablished in November 2019. According to Frank Chapman, Executive Director of NAARPR, “We have 13 cities in which there is organizing against police crimes and for community control of the police.”

Chicago, IL – On September 9, nearly 200 workers, students and union organizers gathered in Millennium Park, across the street from the Art Institute of Chicago. The rally was a show of support for the Art Institute of Chicago Workers United (AICWU). AICWU is composed of two bargaining units – one of staff at the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) and the other of staff at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC).

Chicago, IL – On Sunday evening, September 12, a group of concerned Chicagoans and their dogs gathered at North Avenue Beach for a Pooch Walk to reclaim the space where a Chicago Police Department (CPD) officer attacked African American woman Nikkita Brown while she was walking her dog on August 28 at 12:12 a.m.

Chicago, IL – Several hundred striking workers and supporters rallied September 4 at the Nabisco plant on Chicago’s South Side. Strikers marched through around the plant, and even staged a sit-down action on company property.

Chicago, IL – On Sunday, August 29, there was a parade commemorating the 30th anniversary of the “renewed independence” of Ukraine. While this may at first glance seem to be no threat to labor, progressives and anti-racists, the true character of the event is revealed by the Nazi-coded language used in a letter written by the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America inviting other Ukrainian organizations to participate.

Chicago, IL – More than 1000 union members represented by the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers' union have been striking at Nabisco, where the workers who make Oreo Cookies, Ritz Crackers, and many other popular snacks have walked out of work, saying the strike is a fight to keep what they have had. The workers are striking in Colorado, Illinois, Oregon and Virginia.

Chicago, IL – About 100 people rallied in front of the Philippines Consulate to say, “Enough is enough!” to demand an end to the war against the Filipino people by the government of the Philippines. President Duterte has especially targeted the indigenous Lumad people of the island of Mindanao. In a recent atrocity, the Armed Forces of the Philippines tortured and killed three Lumad youth, including a 12-year-old.

Chicago, IL – Noam Chomsky, Gilbert Achcar, Paul Le Blanc, Suzi Weissman, Tithi Bhattacharya, Charlie Post, Robert Brenner, Gayatri Spivak, Alex Callinicos, Ashley Smith, Eric Toussaint, Marc Cooper, Etienne Balibar. These are a handful of the over 500 signatories on an open letter directed to the blockaded Cuban government on July 12 demanding “respect for the democratic rights of all Cuban people” and the release of “dissident Marxist” Frank García Hernández and his comrades from jail after the protests of July 11.

Chicago, IL – The Chicago movement against racist policing made history July 21 with the passage of the most progressive police accountability legislation in the country. The ordinance, named Empowering Communities for Public Safety (EPCS), was passed by the Chicago City Council on a 36-13 vote.