This is the full 12-21-09 episode of the Labor Express Radio program.
C.J. Hawking is a United Methodist pastor and the executive director of Arise Chicago a faith based worker justice organization. Steven Ashby is an associate clinical professor in the Chicago Labor Education Program in the School of Labor and Employment Relations at the University of Illinois. Both were activists with the Chicago Staley Workers Solidarity Committee back in the early 1990âs. The Staley workers struggle in Decatur Illinois which began roughly in Fall of 1992 and came to a rather lamentable end in 1995, is one of the most important labor struggles in this country in the last 60 years. Unfortunately it has not been given the recognition it deserves over the past 15 years. C.J. & Steven have done their best to correct this historical oversight and have produced one of the most unique and significant works of labor history in recent years. Released last Summer, Staley: The Fight for a New American Labor Movement will not only become, I think, a classic but is essential reading for anyone who wants to better understand why organized labor is so moribund in the United States today and what needs to be done if the movement is to be transformed and workers are to start winning once again. In todayâs program, I will air part 1 of a 2 part interview with C.J & Steven about their new book.
Labor Express Radio is Chicago's only English language labor news and current affairs radio program. News for working people, by working people. Labor Express Radio airs every Monday morning at 10:00 AM on Chicago's Sound Alliance, WLUW, 88.7 FM. For more information, see our website at: www.laborexpress.org and our homepage on Archive.org at: http://www.archive.org/details/LaborExpressRadio or page at Radio4All.net⦠http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/series/Labor+Express+Radio