Lillian Osborne is a member of Chicago Democratic Socialists of America and a union researcher.
A recent fake controversy stoked by right-wing forces on Chicago’s city council led to socialist alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa losing two key positions. The antics would be laughable if they weren’t a major blow against Mayor Brandon Johnson’s working-class agenda.
Working-class reformer Brandon Johnson is now Chicago’s mayor. The next task, as socialist elected official Anthony Quezada argues in an interview, is to bring more ordinary people into the political process so Johnson can actually pass sweeping reforms.
Despite Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s own admission that reopening other parts of the city like restaurants would be unsafe given COVID-19 infection rates, she is insisting Chicago teachers and students return to in-person learning. The Chicago Teachers Union has voted to defy the mayor, refusing to return to schools under current conditions.
After months of inadequate PPE and multiple health care workers dying of COVID-19, more than 5,000 workers from two separate unions are on strike at the University of Illinois-Chicago health system.
When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit and workers at the online clothing company Everlane faced layoffs, they decided to organize. One laid-off Everlane worker describes the difficulties of remote service work in the 21st century, building solidarity among coworkers who never meet in person, and why other online service workers should get organized.
Chicago recently elected six socialists to its city council. One organizer explains how they won: by going after the real-estate developers that are gentrifying the city and pushing working-class Chicagoans out.