Monthly Archives: April 2016

  Here the the film that Howard Kling put together. He came on Kent’s delegation and was pretty much busy all the time, filming. AFT 2121 Strike at City College A strike has been looming on the horizon at City College for many months as the administration balks at negotiations with the union and contractContinue reading “Howard Kling’s film about the US-Viet Nam labor delegation; AFT 2121 UFL strike at City College”

After the UALE conference I took the train up from Washington DC to Brattleboro, Vermont, to take a look at our little house up there. Everything was fine. Our house is on the left. The building behind it is the general store (D&K) which faces onto the main road, Route 30. The town sits inContinue reading “Southern Vermont Village”

The author of “The Sympathizer” is Viet Thanh Nguyen.   I posted this (with some edits) on the Pulitzer Prize Facebook page: I am completely puzzled by why this manipulative, approval-seeking book won a Pulitzer. It is over-written and hyperbolic, but that may have been overlooked that because of the topic — the Vietnamese community ofContinue reading ““The Sympathizer” wins Pulitzer Prize for some reason”

  Democracy Spring demonstrations at the Capitol; see last section of post for details. The white cloth banners say “A corporation is not a person”. Participants in the UALE Viet Nam workshop. From left: Gene Carroll, Don Taylor, Jean Dearden, Victor Narro, Joe Berry, Michael Maurer, Randy Croce, Kent Wong, Monica Bielski Boris, me, HowardContinue reading “Lunch to Lunch, Land to Land; UALE and Democracy Spring”

A few days ago I saw a copy of an exam given to 1oth grade high school students here. I want to offer it as an example of the high value placed in our educational system on recognition and critical interest in multiple perspectives. This was hard to explain to our Vietnamese colleagues. Students inContinue reading “Exams, employer interference with union elections”

I have begun to write this blog mainly for our students and friends in Viet Nam, to try to show them in concrete terms what life in the US labor movement looks like. John Weber, muralist, walking up Ashland toward the Mexican restaurant where we’re going to have dinner. This was last Thursday. We wereContinue reading “Chicago, Labor Notes, Bernie in Wisconsin”