Labor Pains
By Kevin Robinson in News on Nov 30, 2006 2:50PM
The Sun-Times is reporting on the labor movement's most recent moves in city politics. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has compiled a researched list of "targeted" wards where it will rally its resources to oust incumbent aldermen, or try to fill vacant seats with candidates that are sympathetic to its point of view. Further exacerbating this threat to the entrenched are the alliances that SEIU has made in the past 5 years.
Following on the heels of the Chicago Chamber of Commerce's recent announcement that it will create a "one-stop shop" for all of its political needs here by mobilizing employees to do "Chicago-style" precinct walking, unions that represent workers in industries that have been the focus of recent economic changes in the city are mounting a challenge to the established order. SEIU is basing a lot of their targeted research on wards where there is a combination of high union-member density, low voter turnout, and aldermanic support for the union's positions. They are also considering vulnerability.
We are seeing some discontent amongst some of the powerbrokers in the city this election cycle. Daley's greatest accomplishment, the revival of the city, has also turned into his greatest liability. Chicagoist remembers when the city emptied out, industry left town, and popular declarations of "planned shrinkage" were all the rage here. With the recent "urban renaissance" in Chicago, a new demographic has emerged, and this has left some of the traditional urban constituencies feeling left out. Like so much of the foundation of the American political landscape, class and economics are the driving force behind the recent feeling of dissatisfaction. We also take issue with some of the recent changes in the American economy — shipping our industrial base overseas has only weakened the economy and made us vulnerable to shifting global monetary whims. While we support development in poorer nations, we hate to see the communities we grew up in devastated by de-industrialization. This leaves us wondering what kind of economy our children (and our peers who didn't get the chance to go to college) face in the future.
Ultimately, there are no easy answers to the shift in our economy, but targeting aldermen in Chicago to promote things like the Big Box Ordinance isn't the answer to urban poverty. If the Chicago labor movement wants to be a real voice for working families in Chicago, forcing living-wage legislation isn't the key. It has to do the hard work of organizing workers for real change in the economy, and connect it to larger national and global movements for economic justice.