Chicago Teachers Union Declares War on Whistle Blowers

Facts For Working People shares this commentary from Second City Teachers Blog

CTU Cancel Culture Declares War on Whistle Blowers & Those Who Question

By Jim Vail

Lindblom High School teacher Drew Heiserman
and long-time Core member and leader is about to be canceled.

The Chicago Teachers Union and its Core leadership team does not like free speech, whistle blowers or those who ask serious questions.

So they cancel them, in the spirit of cancel culture.

Drew Heiserman, a Core member who has been with the group since it began, is the latest victim.

The CTU executive board member and former Core steering committee member has been brought up on charges by the Core leadership team of harassment for asking questions about a recent pension election. 

While the outcome has yet to be determined, Core has demonstrated a pattern of ousting members in key positions who dare to blow a whistle or question what the leadership is doing.

I was kicked off the Political Action Committee because I didn't agree with the political agenda that aligned itself closely with the Democratic Party. Reggie O'Connor, who chaired the legislative committee was also booted from her position for asking questions the union did not like when it came to making certain political endorsements.

I asked CTU President Jesse Sharkey about this at a House of Delegates meeting and he said that the union will remove members from committees if they feel they are obstructing the work of the committee.

Former CTU field rep Joey McDermott questioned why certain union employees were involved in political campaigning when they were working on the union's dime. He was brought up on charges of misconduct and dismissed. McDermott filed a grievance to win his job back, charging the union with firing a whistle blower.

"I have filed four grievances specially alleging harassment, retaliation and/or discriminatory treatment," he wrote. "My alleged conduct was related to incidents while I reported illegal and/or ethical conduct. CTU staff campaigning for elected officials on work time."

McDermott said over 200 people wrote letters on his behalf to be reinstated. He is currently teaching in high school.

When it comes to disciplining recalcitrant Core members, getting canceled happens more often than not. Earl Silbar was an associate member who pointed out the sell out the Core leadership engineered with SB7 that took away teachers' seniority rights. His criticism led the CTU Executive Board to issue a resolution denouncing the union's position on SB7. 

Earl was ousted.

Former Substance Editor George Schmidt, who has always been critical of union leadership while editing a muckraking newspaper for over 30 years, worked as a consultant to the union when Core was first elected in 2010. 

He too was brought up on certain charges for questioning the leadership and was about to be kicked out until a groundswell of support generated from many black teachers prevented Core was kicking him out.

Free speech is particularly not welcome, especially if you attend any official union meetings.

Former President Karen Lewis used to say, "Loose Lips Sink Ships," implying that teachers should keep their mouths shut when they attend delegates meeting or else they will cause harm for the union. That message rings loud and clear at almost every delegates meeting, where any of the officers will tell delegates to not say anything outside the meeting (unless it's in a closed room in their school building?). 

Core founder Jackson Potter implemented this strategy of attacking whistle blowers and warning teachers not to speak about what is discussed in union meetings. Before Core was elected union leaders never told teachers to keep their mouths shut.

Heiserman has been a member of CORE since 2008 when he served on the leadership team or Steering Committee. He was also the former editor of CORE Issues and chair of the CTU Public Relations and Communications Committee for 8 years. He was also a CTU Trustee who overlooks the union's finances and today serves as a CTU Area Vice President.

"I didn't (and still don't) trust the process because it is rooted in an attempt to punish me for being a whistleblower," he wrote in a letter to Core.

Heiserman questioned the allegations of "harassment" and "discrimination" against him when he did not name any Core members who complained. Core has a policy that reads: "No CORE member may harass or discriminate against anyone on the basis - real or perceived - of race, religion, creed, ethnicity, age, disability, gender presentation or expression, or sexual orientation.

"What justification does the Steering Committee have for using inflammatory rhetoric like 'unsubstantiated gossip and false accusations,'" he wrote.

Heiserman fears a smear campaign will be the next step taken to oust him completely.

Teachers have complained that they have been kicked off the CTU Members Facebook page. Certainly, those who control the medium control the message, and if they feel certain comments go against what the union is fighting for, then they can just pull the plug.

It was done with President Trump when the attack on Capitol Hill led to Twitter shutting down his account.

CTU communications director Ronnie Reese, who monitors the CTU social media pages, said to quote the late Karen Lewis - does it unify us? Does it make us stronger? 

If not, off with their heads!

Ironically, this is the same argument Mayor Lori Lightfoot and her big business sponsors make to argue against having an elected school board. There would be too much fighting among various interests.

Does the union know what's best for its members, and those who disagree should just keep their mouths shut?

Another teachers caucus named Members First would disagree. 

Second City Teachers will talk to them next about what it means to have alternative voices unedited and uncensored.

 

Lori Lightfoot: Another Savior Fills The Vacuum in US Politics

Richard Mellor
Afscme Local 444, retired

Lori Lightfoot, the former federal prosecutor is the new mayor of Chicago and she now promises the people of Chicago a new day.

As is usually the case in the US political arena where class is subordinated for the safe ground of identity politics, the first and foremost thing I must know about Lightfoot is she is a woman, she is black, she is a lesbian.  As for her politics, she is a member of that other war monger’s party, the Democrats. The article in yesterdays WSJ announcing her victory says little about her platform other than a few vague comments. But in the video above the platitude’s flow like water from a leaking pipe.

“We will build trust between our people and our brave police officers so that the community and police trust each other, not fear each other.” , says Lightfoot.  She speaks to parents about their children and how, “Boys and girls are seeing the beginning of something a little different, they’re seeing a city reborn.”

In Chicago from now on we will be witnessing a miracle indeed, and from an individual whose job it was to put workers and poor people behind bars, Chicago, under her reign as mayor, will be, “A city where it doesn’t matter what color you are….”  and promising a city, “where it doesn’t matter who you love as long as you love.”

I have woken up to a wonder winterland I must say. No more racism, no more violence and we all love each other. The Hippies are back.  

“We can and will break this city’s endless cycle of corruption”, Ms Lightfoot says although how we can do that and is not explained. She has talked of defending the interests of business which might give us a clue.

I had to cringe at the “our brave police officers” proclamation that reveals her disconnection, from the daily existence of working class people but most certainly the millions of black folks in urban centers like Chicago where the police are an occupying force.  Perhaps Ms Lightfoot is referring to “brave” Chicago officers like this one .  Perhaps she is talking about the “brave” police officers that worked at Homan Square, a notorious torture center when hundreds of mostly poor and working class people of color were detained and brutalized.

Ms Lightfoot’s Pollyanna promises will soon be revealed even further as just that.

There have been calls in Chicago for a financial transaction tax, taxing trades on the Chicago exchanges, two of the largest exchanges in the US. The tax is known as the LaSalle Street tax and although a very low tax would raise some $12 billion. Mayor elect Lightfoot had this to say about the tax to the Chicago Sun Times in January this year: “While I agree that higher income individuals like me and businesses must pay their fair share, I also want to be certain that in evaluating revenue options, we do not drive businesses from Chicago or create a disincentive for businesses to invest in our city.”

You can’t protect the interests of business and workers and the poor at the same time.  That she could even talk of the police in Chicago in the way she has given the history of the police in this city is staggering.

In some ways the new Chicago mayor is the anti-Trump, an accident of history as the US political scene and society in general enters a new era. The era in which the two capitalist parties that have thoroughly dominated US political life for a century or more is coming to an end. We have stressed this view many times on this blog. The turn out in the Chicago runoff between Ms. Lightfoot and her opponent Toni Preckwinkle was only 32% of registered voters according to the WSJ. Close to one hundred million never voted in the 2016 election too disgusted with the lack of political choice and the corruption in US politics. The trade union hierarchy continues to push their friends in the Democratic Party as the only political option on the table despite many of their members thinking otherwise and voting for Trump or opting out altogether.

A great opportunity exists in US politics today. The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has some 50,000 members and is predicted to gain another 20,000 by the next election in 2020. DSA members, as of this morning, have five members on the Chicago City Council (soon to be six possibly) and there are two DSA Congresspersons, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida TIab.

In Chicago, the trade unions represent a potentially powerful force. The Chicago Labor Federation has 300 unions affiliated to it representing 500,000 members but the trade union leadership, as is the case nationally, acts as agents of the Democratic Party inside these potentially powerful organizations, holding back any movement from within labor’s ranks that threaten this relationship, not only with this employers political arm (Democratic Party) but also in the class struggle on the job.  They do this primarily because their argument is that we cannot win and we cannot change the present system, the only option is capitulation. The teachers/educators strikes and protests in the states where such activity is illegal and that had significant victories has shattered that myth.

DSA, and the trade union leadership could transform the political scene in Chicago and tap in to the tremendous mood for change. Ms Lightfoot’s Pollyanna promises will soon be revealed even further as just that.

Rather than talking of our “brave” police officers to a community where this force has brutalized people, any candidate claiming to represent workers and the poor and talking about harmony and love, should be calling for an independent investigation in to the police department by representatives from the communities involved, the rank and file of the trade unions and so on. An investigation in to the murder of Fred Hampton, the chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, and deputy chairman of the national party is due as well, the Chicago police and the FBI coordinated his assassination and even had an informant drug him so that that resistance was futile. And what candidate calls for this? DSA and its 5-member caucus on the Chicago City Council should raise this. It’s time.   

The US bourgeois is trying to regain some sort of control over its political apparatus and we will see that Ms Lightfoot will play a helpful role in that.

Good Riddance Rahm Emanuel

Brothers in arms and the Yemenis feel it.

Greg, Chicago Nurse

In a major surprise, Chicago Mayor, Rahm Emanuel announced he is not running for a third term.  Emanuel is hated in the city by most groups that associate him with deception and greedy power and money corruption. Emanuel was also a member of the Israeli armed forces.

In his announcement Emanuel talked of his devotion, toughness, wisdom and successes. His successes, though were limited to him and his billionaire friends. "Chicago is better and stronger for his leadership, and I was a better President for his wise counsel at a particularly perilous time for our country,"  

 Fine words coming from Obama, but his IDF friend ran a nasty racist austerity game on health education and welfare and used the police as attack dogs on the poor minorities.   In 2013 Emanuel took on the teachers union and closed 50 public schools. This overwhelmingly affected black and brown children, also among the most victims of Obama's drone wars.

The LaQuan episode was amazing in it's criminal sadistic Machievellian visciousness.  Laquan McDonald, 17, who the police say was wielding a three-inch knife was shot 16 times by the cops and the Chicago City Council agreed  to pay $5 million to the family

He left because citizens lead by Ex Governor Quinn and Lora Chamberlain, among others, had succeeded in getting a term limit for him in the works for the ballot. He folded and spouted platitudes and lies. With the economy about the slump, he's bailing out like Daley before him.

Bye bye  Rahm ! Any cursory investigation in to his behavior will land him and his mentors in jail.

CTU Leadership's Pathetic Response to Rauner and Illinois Budget.

CTU response to IL House override of Rauner budget veto

by Stacy Davis Gates - CTU Legislative and Political Director  |  07/07/2017

The budget that was finally passed today with bi-partisan support can -- at best -- be described as Rauner's austerity budget. Even after all of the pain that everyday Illinois residents have suffered over the last two years of cutbacks, and all of the hard work that legislators put into this deal, Rauner’s austerity budget still doesn’t include the revenue that our state’s people need. On top of that, unless Rauner signs SB1, the new school funding formula, every school district in Illinois will receive NO STATE FUNDING for the upcoming school year -- making it critical that he sign SB1 immediately.

We have the governor to thank for the mess our state is in. Rauner drew a ridiculous line in the sand on the campaign trail, driving our state even deeper in debt than before he took office -- while the terms of this final budget are decidedly right-of-center.

While this budget closes some corporate loopholes, eases an income tax hike for low-income families by increasing the state earned income tax credit, and raises taxes on corporations who can well afford to pay more of their fair share, it still falls short of adequately funding frontline human needs like education. Millionaires and billionaires like Rauner must pay their fair share of taxes -- and that means paying more. Today’s budget doesn't close the unfair loophole that lets Wall Street money managers like Rauner’s billionaire hedge fund donor Ken Griffin dodge paying their fair share of taxes, leaving anywhere from a half billion to almost $2 billion dollars on the table. The LaSalle Street Tax alone would be enough to pay the state’s backlog of bills from the last two years!

It is unacceptable for Mayor Emanuel to use Rauner's austerity budget as a political shield to justify playing the same role as the governor -- or, for that matter, “emergency managers” in Flint and Detroit who’ve robbed public services of precious public dollars. Even when SB1 becomes law, it won’t be enough to sustain Chicago’s public schools. It’s time for Mayor Emanuel to work with the City Council to kick in more support to our school communities by reinstating the Corporate Head Tax and putting the dollars stashed in Emanuel’s TIF slush fund back into frontline public education where those dollars belong. Draining the TIF surplus that has robbed our neighborhood public schools for years and reinstating the Corporate Head Tax will help to ameliorate the cuts that Emanuel has already inflicted on our school communities AND will prevent Emanuel from cutting even more from our school communities for this upcoming school year.

***********

Richard Mellor
Afscme Local 444, retired.

This is what the Chicago Teachers Union leadership has to say in response to the state budget that has just been passed. The Illinois House of Representatives passed the budget overriding the veto of billionaire Republican governor Bruce Rauner.

The new budget has a $5 billion tax increase proposal and also includes a provision that allows the the state to borrow more money. State income tax will increase to 4.95% from 3.75% and the corporate rate will increase to 7% from 5.25%. "Today was another step in Illinois' never-ending tragic trail of tax hikes" Rauner commented.  Rauner  has championed property tax relief but lets not forget working folk,  Rauner's father was a CEO of Morotola and he graduated from Dartmouth. He was reported to have earned $180 million in 2015, it's not our taxes he's worried about. 

Some $500 is expected to be raised through pension changes as a defined contribution, 401K market type plan is being introduced to compete with the defined benefits plan as these are gradually being eliminated by employers in the war against all we have won over the past half century or more. Illinois was entering its third fiscal year without a budget and has the honor of being the first US state to go without a budget for more than a year since the great depression.

Naturally, the Democrats are patting themselves on the back as the challenge was led by  House Speaker Michael Madigan.  But the response from the leadership of the CTU is the usual pathetic whining and appeal for other rich folks like the former Israeli Defense Force member and Obama pal, Mayor Rahm Emmanuel to do the right thing. The union leadership as they always do, try to shift the entire blame for the assault on living standards on to the Republicans when their deathly embrace of the Democrats has been equally as disastrous for working people for decades. "Millionaires and billionaires like Rauner must pay their fair share of the taxes" the CTU's legislative and political director writes above and it is to Emanuel their appeal goes, the same Rahm  Emanuel who has savaged Chicago's public education system and is after more.

And worse than all of them are the leaders of organized labor in Chicago  which includes the heads of the CTU. The Chicago Federation of Labor has over 300 union locals affiliated to it and some half million members. The CTU is affiliated to American Federation of Teachers, itself an AFL-CIO affiliate, it has 30,000 members. This is tremendous potential power that should be used to draw in the numerous struggles against the capitalist offensive which are occurring in Chicago and the state The poverty racism in the police force and violence is well known in this third largest city in the US. Housing, health care, jobs, the issues are all out there and not complicated. The labor officialdom's efforts are mostly spent ensuring no resistance to their collaboration arises.

They have have also cooperated willingly in the continued assault on education and workers in general. We are in a war on two fronts, one against the bosses and the capitalist offensive, and another against the cooperation of the leaders of our own organizations that support this offensive, albeit a slightly milder version.

It's the same old story from the union officialdom. Back in 2015 when Emanuel was savaging the school system in Chicago, Karen Louis, the CTU president stated at a press conference:“We understand that there is a serious financial problem and we are willing to work within that framework. We accept that there will be a 0 percent raise. But give us something to make that 0 percent feel better.”  

Jesse Sharkey the CTU VP and an open socialist and member of a socialist organization spoke in similar terms during the 2015 struggle saying on WGN radio,“When we say ‘broke on purpose,’ both parts are important, including the recognition that CPS is broke. We don’t think it’s a good time to be asking for big raises or really expensive reforms.” Read more on this issue here.

This is the norm atop the labor movement. They do not believe we can win, they do not see the working class as the class that can govern society let alone lead a resistance movement, after all, where could they lead it to but to chaos?  And they accept the employers' view of the world, they worship capitalism and see the market as having the answer to all things.

Rank and file union members have to recognize that you can't avoid a struggle with the present clique atop organized labor, it is inevitable, as is the struggle against capital. You can't look to much help from most lefts, socialists or other self professed revolutionaries as they tend to avoid these struggles themselves for one illegitimate reason or another. 

It's up to you folks, the boss won't let up.

Who gives a damn about the World Series?

John Baptiste Pointe du Sable, Founder of Chicago

By Jason O’ Neal

As a lifelong baseball fan enamored with the sport since I began playing Little League when I was eight years old, I have mixed emotions about the 2016 MLB World Series Game 7 between the Chicago Cubs and the Cleveland “Native Americans”.  For many years I was a season ticket holder at a nameless major league park before I realized my working class wages should not be supporting a private club of billionaires who pay grown men to play a child’s game for millions of dollars in publicly funded state-of-the-art sports stadiums. 

Now, before readers start to think this is a rant against fanatics of professional sports, I want everyone to know I lived the better part of my life wrapped up in the daily statistics and league standings of multiple sports at the local, collegiate, and professional level.  I also know the history of the Chicago Cubs and their century-long championship drought since the last time they won the series in 1908.  This story is not about baseball in the “Windy City,” rather it’s the truth about the real world and the working class people who live in it.  This story also rings true for workers in Cleveland, Detroit, and even the Oakland area where I currently live.

Let us begin…

Chicago, Chi-town, and “Chi-raq”(the title of a 2015 movie about the urban war between rival gangs and the police) are just a few of the names for the third most populace city in the United States.  Chicago also happens to be a major commercial center for finance, industry, telecommunications, technology, and agriculture in North America.  However, and often forgotten by history books, great material progress is always accompanied by increased suffering for the less fortunate.  The Chicago Tribune reports there have already been 632 homicides this year surpassing the yearly total of 492 from 2015.  This is an increase of more than 28 percent.  So, why shouldn’t we talk about more than just baseball in Chicago?

More than one hundred years before the last time the Cubbies ruled supreme in the world of baseball, which broadcast games across the country via radio in 1908, the city of Chicago was a Native American settlement on the banks of Lake Michigan.  An African-French fur trader took up residence there in 1790 and founded the city.  That’s right!  A black man was founder of a city in America more than half a century before the Civil War.  Two decades after the territory became part of the United States the city of Chicago was incorporated in 1833.  In less than fifteen years Chicago would become an important shipping hub for the Great Lakes and Erie Canal as railroads began supplying its harbor docks with increased food production from the Midwest.  This led to the establishment of the Chicago Board of Exchange in 1848 which boosted the power of rich capitalists who could buy up surplus beef and grain so they could ship them to foreign markets. This was especially true during times of military conflict, such as the Crimean War in 1853. 

However, local farmers and ranchers were subjected to the price controls placed on their products by wealthy investors who wanted to maximize their profits overseas.  A common occurrence in speculation markets is the formation of investment bubbles and Chicago has experienced this more than its fair share.  During world trade crises foreign consumer markets were not able to purchase the surplus commodities from Chicago and prices would plummet sending most working family farmers into bankruptcy and foreclosure on their properties.  Penniless, and without land, they would be forced into the ghettos of Chicago to sell their labor to the capitalists who controlled the means of production.  This tragedy, along with the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, which left one third of the three hundred thousand people in the city homeless, all took place before baseball was even organized into a “sporting” pastime.

In a country which gives too much credit to the titans of industry, the stories of common working class people are often ignored and lost to the passage of time.  It must be remembered that Chicago has endured not because of rich philanthropists and politicians, but because of the strength and hard work of the people who live there.  Aside from sports fame and links to great music and cultural arts, Chicago has a very rich and vibrant history with working class struggles in America.  Some of the more important events to have taken place in Chicago are as follows:

Nationwide Railroad Strike, July 1877 – Without a union, thousands of railway and factory workers (mostly European immigrants) take to the streets in class solidarity across division lines of trade, ethnicity, and gender.  They were met by police, militia, and federal troops which resulted in the deaths of thirty workers and another two hundred wounded.

 

Haymarket Riot May 4th, 1886

Haymarket Square Riot, May 4, 1886 - Fifteen hundred workers rallied for an eight-hour workday and a violent explosion rocked the crowd.  This particular demonstration was part of more than three hundred separate strikes which included nearly ninety thousand workers demanding a shorter workday.  Four protestors were killed, seventy injured and more than one hundred were arrested.  Seven cops were killed with more than sixty injured.  Eight radicals were convicted and some, like labor activist Albert Parsons, were executed without any real evidence connecting them to a crime.  The Haymarket Affair inspired workers from all over the world to declare May Day as International Workers’ Day.  Ironically, this is an event not even celebrated in the United States because our trade unions prefer an agreement with the bosses to have an “American” Labor Day in September. 

Pullman Strike, May 11, 1894 - Four thousand factory workers at the Pullman Palace Car Company in south Chicago initiated a wildcat strike to fight against wage decreases and layoffs.  When the cops and National Guard moved in to suppress the action thirty workers were killed and fifty-seven were injured.  The strike also included a boycott with nearly two hundred and fifty thousand workers from twenty-seven states standing in solidarity with their working class brothers. 

“The Jungle”, February 26, 1906 – First appearing in the Socialist newspaper Appeal to Reason in 1905, Upton Sinclair’s novel was published exposing the harsh conditions for exploited workers (mostly immigrants, women and children) in the Chicago meatpacking industry.  Sinclair, an American journalist and novelist who wrote about corruption in government and business, had spent weeks working in the processing plants and stockyards of Chicago.  The popularity of his novel pressured Congress to pass the Meat Inspection Act.  Even President Roosevelt had to agree with Sinclair when he stated, “radical action must be taken to do away with the efforts of arrogant and selfish greed on the part of the capitalist."  In 1934, Sinclair would campaign as a socialist for Governor of California as part of the “End Poverty in California” movement.  Although the campaign was defeated by the two-party establishment, EPIC was a major influence on the New Deal legislation passed by Congress during the Great Depression. 

October 14, 1908 - The Chicago Cubs defeated the Detroit Tigers in five games to win the World Series.  The average attendance was 12,446 for each game with the winning player’s share of the prize equal to $1,318.  A grandstand seat at Chicago’s West Side Grounds (there was no Wrigley Field then) was a whopping $1.50.  On a side note, according to CNN Money, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was trading at a colossal 63 points on this day.  It should be noted the Federal Reserve was not yet created and the influence of financial firms, technology, and retail industries had not yet taken over the stock market.

October 9, 1919 – The Chicago White Sox were defeated by the Cincinnati Reds in eight games during the World Series Championship.  Links to organized crime and sports gambling bookies led to accusations that the White Sox intentionally lost the championship in exchange for cash.  A trial ensued where the players were exonerated, however, Major League owners had agreed to appoint a former federal judge, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, as the first “Commissioner of Baseball” with unlimited authority over players and teams.  His first action in office was to ban those players implicated in the scandal from ever playing professional baseball again.

During the Roaring Twenties, the Stock Market Crash in 1929, and the Great Depression, Chicago’s reputation as a center for organized crime grows with the popularity of notorious gangsters.  The most popular outlaws were Al Capone, “Babyface” Nelson, and John Dillinger (who loved attending Cubs games when in town).  In the late 1930s workers in basic industry finally won the right to form labor unions without courts imposing injunctions forcing them back to the job. 

Memorial Day Massacre, May 30, 1937 – Workers and supporters attempted to picket in front of Republic Steel in Chicago’s southeast side.  Marchers and their families were met by police violence leaving ten protesters dead and more than ninety more injured from clubs, tear gas, and bullets.

During the first two years following World War II more than five million American workers participated in strikes across several industries in Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh, New York, and Oakland.  Congress reacted to the largest strikes in American history by passing the Taft-Hartley Act, which restricted the power and activities of labor unions.  Although vetoed by President Truman, it was overridden by Republicans and Democrats in the United States House of Representatives and the Senate.  The act is still in force today.

 

DNC 1968

Democratic National Convention Protest, August 25, 1968 – Tens of thousands of anti-Vietnam War protesters, mainly students and veterans, converge on the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.  For eight days the city was a war zone where protesters fought with police and National Guard troops.  Reporters, photographers, and camera crews were also beaten by police who clubbed and arrested people by the hundreds.  Nearly six hundred were taken into custody and more than one hundred protesters were injured.   One hundred and nineteen police were injured.  Mayor Daly, of the Chicago Democratic Party political machine, maintained his support for the actions of the police and gave officers a raise after the riot.

Nearly fifty years later it is difficult to find anyone who knows anything about these events in working class history.  Issues like climate change, war, wealth disparity, privatization of social welfare, infrastructure collapse, unemployment, and homelessness are practically ignored. America is navigating a social crisis on multiple levels with a circus show masquerading as a presidential election.  Popular culture and entertainment, including sporting events, have become spectacles of distraction promoting hyper-patriotism through micro-nationalism and the expansion of tribal mentality.  Marx said in order for the ruling elite to ensure this happens it would require halting the evolutionary progress of society and sometimes, as in this case, instituting the structural digression of its working people.  How do we remedy the problems of the working class?  Nurture a delusional pride in sports championships and a few beers as a temporary sedative to the harsh realities of life.  It’s everywhere in our culture.  The “stupor” bowl in the NFL, the NBA Finals, and the World Series. 

Ask yourselves what did these meaningless titles given to teams of millionaire athletes do for the living conditions for working families in their cities?  During interviews we have to listen to them use the same old clichés about winning and teamwork while they express their superstitions and religious fervor giving thanks to an imaginary god for their athletic prowess, their last win, or latest sports award.  What does that do for soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq? Homeless families and veterans on the street with PTSD?  Prisoners in a commercial detention facility?  The answer is nothing.  Nothing at all.

Cleveland lost the World Series a few days ago, but the people who live there still have an NBA Championship to flaunt around in a city deindustrialized by free trade agreements and investment flight as businesses packed up and relocated to some far-off developing country.  That sports title was won by defeating the basketball team from Oakland, where the Golden State Warriors held the title of champion the previous year, but also where working families and retirees are being evicted from their homes by real estate developers and bankers.  City and county councils, cash-strapped and hungry for tax revenue, are doing nothing to help workers as gentrification and greedy landlords are driving people into the street.  To see what the future has in store for many cities you need look no further than Detroit.  A city which was once the gold standard for industrial production in the world is now a desolate shanty town with no jobs, no services, and wild dogs roaming the streets attacking citizens.  A foreign war correspondent once said the conditions in Detroit reminded him of Mogadishu, Somalia.  I disagree.  Mogadishu doesn’t have two sports stadiums funded by taxpayers in their third-world community.

This leads me back to another pressing question.  Who is actually able to afford tickets to these games?  The average ticket price for the final game of this year’s World Series was $4,314.  A set of tickets near the Cubs dugout went for $80,000 apiece.  How can working class people afford to go to these games?  They don’t.  Wealthy people from all over the country jet-set into O’Hare, stay at high dollar hotels, and catch a game at Wrigley Field while the average Chicago native watches the game on television.  The great American pastime is now just one of a multitude of programs sprinkled with commercials and advertising.  Even the sports stadiums are named after corporations. 

We have come a very long way from paying only $1.50 for a ticket to see a baseball championship, but we allowed ourselves to be lead in the wrong direction.  Perhaps nothing explains America’s fascination with baseball better than our economic system.  Winner take all no matter the cost, win one year and lose the next.  Unfortunately, our political system reinforces this economic idea, including the race for White House.  Hillary Clinton, when not pandering to voters in New York by acting like she’s a Yankees fan, wears a Chicago Cubs ball cap.  Her white upper-class upbringing prevents her from knowing anything about the struggles of working class Americans.  She has a track record of selling out working families and the poor in favor of Wall Street banks, insurance companies, and the military industrial complex. 

The other buffoon in the race will get no mention from me because he is a modern-day P.T. Barnum, but President Obama did wear White Sox jacket during his claims to be from Chicago.  He is part of the same political machine that has run Chicago since before Mayor Daly.  It’s also the same apparatus that gave Chicago its current mayor, Rahm Emanuel.  A former chief of staff for President Obama, Emanuel has been the mayor since 2011.  He has also deployed an all-out offensive against the Chicago Teacher’s Union.  Like other politicians from the two major parties they are puppets for big money and a corrupt labor aristocracy that has betrayed union members.  Homegrown politicians do nothing for Chicago or its people.  This is also true for the majority of America where militarized police forces murder people of color to enforce the rules of the wealthy.  Crime, violence, substance abuse are symptoms of a deeper problem in society.  Poverty. 

In the face of an upcoming economic recession made worse by the effects of climate change, and after more than fifteen years of perpetual war against terror, will the American working class finally stand up to the corrupt influence of corporate donations and the wealthy oligarchy?  I would like to think so, however, it will require a mass mobilization of working people independent of the two political parties and labor management.  The representatives of some five hundred Native American tribes and their allies are holding ground at Standing Rock in the Dakotas are showing us what must be done. 

There are also international movements where citizens are standing up to oppressive governments.  Imagine if the five million people who showed up in Chicago during the Cub’s parade and rally were actually participating in a direct action protest for preservation of the environment, better wages, education, healthcare, and living conditions.  How might things change?  The Chicago Federation of Labor has 320 affiliated unions with more than half a million members representing a diverse group of men and women throughout the area.  What could they accomplish if they stood together in solidarity with one another?  Until Chicago (and the rest of America) embraces its identity and the labor struggles of the past, people there can only look forward to another season of baseball and more of the corrupt status quo.  Let’s hope it doesn’t take another century, because degradation to the environment might not give us that long.                 

Chicago Teachers Contract.

Union leaders and tame left prefer defeat. 

Sean O'Torain.

The majority of the so called tame left claims that the Chicago Teachers are winning a great contract. But then just about all the tame left claim all defeats as victories these days. There are a number of reasons for this.

One is they do not want to confront the union leaderships who believe that only defeats are possible. The tame left wants to keep in with the union leadership. It is nauseating. In fact I would go further than this in relation to the union leadership. The union leadership do not want victories. They only want defeats.  If the workers had victories this would show that victories are possible and this would negate the union leaders' whole strategy and propaganda which is that as capitalism is now on the offensive it cannot be thrown back and so concessions have to be made. Concessions have to be the name of the game. Concessions are the only game in town. What garbage. But let us look further.

A good victory for a substantial section of workers such as the Chicago Teachers would tear at, would undermine, this entire BS of the union leadership. It would show that concessions, that defeats were not the only game in town. It would show that real victories were possible. that the bosses' offensive could be halted, thrown back and a working class offensive launched. And it would also of course tear at and undermine the tame left who support the union leadership. The union leadership and the tame left are united in their fear of big victories. And one way or another unite to see that these are not won.

A new fighting leadership has to be built in the rank and file of the unions, the workplaces, the communities, the schools and colleges. A leadership that is serious about taking on the bosses. Not a leadership that gives up the battle before it even begins and puts energies, with the help of the tame left, to bleat on about the need to accept that victories cannot be won. Any union leader that does not believe that victories are possible, and is not organizing fighting squads in the union rank and file and workplaces to bring about these victories, that is not building for a new fighting leadership has to be removed. And in doing so we would respectfully ask the tame left to step aside and keep their defeatist opinions to their goddamn selves.

Chicago Residents Oppose Evictions

We are sharing this example of the struggle of working people against gentrification and slumlords. Stephen Perkins.

Members from the Springfield Autonomous Tenants Union (SATU) sing a version of 'Let it Snow' to Barnett Capital - the development corporation that's threatening to evict 10 members of the Centro Autónomo of Albany Park, Chicago. For more information about how to resist classist displacement, call 773-583-7728

BARNETT CAPITAL LTD: DON’T DISPLACE TENANTS FROM THEIR HOME AND HISTORY

TO: MRS. JULIE GATELY AND MR. DAN SHACHTMAN OF BARNETT CAPITAL LTD,

Dear Mrs. Julie Gately and Mr. Dan Shachtman of Barnett Capital LTD,

Actions speak louder than words.

We, the undersigned, demand that you, working on behalf of Barnett Capital LTD, cease the displacement of the tenants living in 4834 N. Springfield Ave., Chicago, Illinois 60625–organized through the Springfield Autonomous Tenants Union (SATU).

These tenants, who are also part of the Centro Autónomo de Albany Park and the community-wide Autonomous Tenants Association, have repeatedly asked for a meeting to negotiate, which you have denied outright. We stand with SATU and insist that you allow them to stay in their homes.

The 4834 N. Springfield apartment building is no typical dwelling.

The Centro Autónomo, an organization firmly rooted in the Albany Park community, started in this building. Immigrant workers living in Albany Park, came to this space to learn English and how to defend their rights as workers and as immigrants. In 2007, the Centro Autónomo moved to a more central location, while several organizers and professors continued living in the apartments. Now, all tenants living in the building are members of the Centro Autónomo. Not only are they defending their homes, we are defending their history.

Since Barnett Capital LTD’s acquisition of the property in June, SATU has been trying to work with you in order to stay in their home and their community. SATU has consistently asked for a one-year lease and that code violations be repaired. In responding to their asks, your answers have been infrequent and inconsistent. Now you are commencing an eviction process, which, if not stopped, will result in the displacement of these tenants from their homes and community while contributing to the gentrification of the Albany Park neighborhood.

Your continued disregard for the reasonable demands of these tenants has led us to the conclusion that you are gentrifiers. We have witnessed the displacement of hundreds of families from Albany Park at the hands of profit hungry real estate and development companies. As long as you continue to portray SATU’s dignified demands as unimportant, you will solidify Barnett Capital Ltd’s reputation as a gentrifier. Certainly a highly-esteemed company like Barnett Capital cannot afford such a reputation.

We, the undersigned, in solidarity with SATU, demand the following:

• Cease eviction proceedings against the tenants of the Springfield Autonomous Tenants Union.

• Agree to a 1-year lease in the property at comparable rent for all tenants of the Springfield Autonomous Tenants Union and promptly and properly attend to the repairs needed.

Sincerely,

Springfield Autonomous Tenants Union and Supporters

Why is this important?

Our struggle is important not just because of our individual struggle as tenants against Barnett Capital, but because of the gentrification of our working class neighborhood of Albany Park. Thousands of tenants have been priced out of our neighborhood due to greedy speculation by corporations like Barnett Capital. Families living in the neighborhood for decades have to move away from their friends and extended family, their children's schools, their social networks, their community centers, their churches, all because of developers’ and speculators’ desire for profit. Because of gentrification, tenants are displaced from the place they call home. By struggling for our right to stay in the neighborhood at an affordable rent, we are forming part of the larger neighborhood struggle against gentrification. The community has power when we organize ourselves! Please join us, ally with us, be in solidarity with us, by signing this petition!

How it will be delivered

The petition will be delivered in person to Barnett Capital LTD's offices.

Emanuel took $50,000 donation from Trump. Emanuel must go.

Kick them out of the US?  Why not? They do far more damage than a whole nation of Muslims

By Richard Mellor

Afscme Local 444, retired

The gangsters that rule us.

Rahm Emanuel, the former IFD man, destroyer of schools and public education, good friend of Obama is having a hard time of it. His murderous police force is under attack and the Justice Dept. is heading an investigation.  The FBI cannot stay mum any longer and is claiming it will keep a closer eye on the number of people murdered, er I mean shot by police.

Emanuel, like all the Wall Street politicians is well connected but we should keep the pressure on.

They all stick together these characters and they stuck together when Rahm needed money to become mayor of the country’s third largest city. In his campaign for mayor he raised millions, 11.8 million in the last six months of 2010 according to Forbes. Emmanuel’s brother Ari is a Hollywood agent and he got plenty of cash from this den of iniquity.

Steven Spielberg handed over a cool $75,000. Spielberg should appreciate Rahm’s IDF stint, he makes movies about women’s oppression and American racism (Color Purple), religious oppression  (Schindler’s List) and other socially conscious movies, (Saving Private Ryan), not too many about Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians though.

Another TV tycoon Haim Saban and his wife donated $500,000. Mortimer Zuckerman another media billionaire kicked in. Other billionaires that backed Emanuel and have contributed to the war on education, the teachers union that is facing as many as 1000 Rahm layoffs, and the shutting down of many schools, mostly schools in communities of color include:

Citadel’s Ken Griffin who I believe is Chicago’s richest man.

Eli Broad, who is also a keen opponent of public education and a privateer.

Nelson Pelz, chairman of Wendy’s and Arby’s

Ron Perelman, the leveraged buyout king whose wealth is $12.3 billion according to Forbes

Marc Lasry, another coupon clipper worth $2 bn

Eric Lefkofsky co-founder of Groupon gave Rahm  $100,000

Facebook co-founder Sean Parker gave him $100,000

Steve Jobs donated money as did David Geffen, reputed to be Hollywood’s richest man worth $7 billion according to Forbes.

Perhaps the friend and patron of Rahm that sparks my interest most is Donald Trump. Trump donated $50,000 to Emanuel’s campaign

All these people are guilty of decimating Chicago’s public education system. They are guilty of a war on education and in particular communities of color. Emanuel’s war on people of color through his police department is far more brutal but all of these is proof he needs to go.  The game that was being played here was get Rahm in to the White House. That’s what these wasters were ponying up for. Having the president of the US in your camp, or your pocket, brings huge rewards.

But it is proof positive that no matter who replaces Rahm Emanuel if the people of Chicago can force him out and we hope they do, is that the next guy will be serving the same masters. They are all complicit in the plundering the wealth of US society that its working class people create. We will never solve the direct cause of these present protests, racism, police brutality and the actual murder of black people in particular nor the crisis in society in general from education to housing.

We have a crisis of capitalism. The system is beyond its expiration date and we will only resolve or begin to seriously resolve the crises we face, in particular the looming environmental catastrophe that will destroy life on this planet as we know it, if the working class wrests control of the machine from the present clique that has it.

A democratic socialist system of production is the only way out. There is, as Thatcher once said of capitalism, no alternative.

Sources: Forbes, Rahm Emanuel's War Chest: 14 Billionaires, Plus Facebook And Groupon Founders

Direct Action Movement and the Labor Movement unite against the Capitalist Offensive.

Bruce Rauner

by Sean O'Torain

Chicago is one of the major cities in the USA. With its hinterland, the population is close to ten million. It is home to 21 Fortune 500 companies and one of the world’s busiest airports. It is in the state of Illinois.

The recently elected governor of that state is Bruce Rauner. Before his election he was Chairman of R8 Capital Partners and Chairman of the private equity firm GTCR. Like all of his class, his foray in to politics is in order to strengthen the power and influence of the billionaires over the rest of us.

Rauner is an extreme right wing Republican. He made his money in finance capital speculating with other peoples’ money and therefore is one of those people responsible for the crash of 2008. Included in his vast list of crimes against American workers is 5 million homes, stolen from the people that lived in them by the bankers and their security forces.

The world economy was only saved from a total collapse because Rauner and his friends  were bailed out by the US taxpayer, that is working class and middle class people's money. Rauner was elected to power by a fund of over $60 million which was got together by his equally extreme right wing finance capitalists, and not only in Illinois but around the country.

These vultures see Illinois as a chicken to be plucked and Rauner as the person to do the plucking. Rauner is a vicious capitalist who personally threatened the family of one of his rivals. A journalist in the Sun Times was temporarily fired for reporting this. Rauner is going after state pensions, the minimum wage, blocking any attempts to increase taxes on the rich. It is the usual extreme right wing agenda. However it is good to say, and grounds for hope,  that Rauner is not doing so well. His poll numbers are sinking.

Then there is his pal in Chicago, the extreme right wing mayor Rahm Emanuel a former aid to the capitalist stooge Clinton, former chief of staff to the bailer out of Wall Street and the mad bomber of the Middle East Obama. Emanuel came to Chicago to stamp the working people into the dirt in preparation for a return to Washington in the future for higher office.

Emanuel has a resume similar to Rauner. Both made fortunes in finance. Emanuel also has on his resume a stint in the occupying army of the Israeli Zionist state. His father was a member of the Zionist terrorist group the Irgun. But just like Rauner, Emanuel is having some difficulty. He has just had to fire his police chief over police murders and cover up. He himself had seen to it that the video of  Laquan McDonald murdered by the cop was not released until after his relection. 

These brief resumes are important. Especially for the activist movement in the Chicagoland area. It is very important to understand what and who the enemy are and what they are doing. Rauner and Emanuel represent the capitalist forces in the state and city. But not only that. They represent the capitalist forces which want to step up the offensive of capitalism against the working class. This capitalist offensive is what dominates all our lives. This capitalist class wants to take away all that was gained in the 1930’s, 1960’s and it wants to crush any effort to prevent it from looting the planet even if this means destroying life on earth as we know it. We need to understand who our enemies are, the Emanuels and Rauners and the class they represent. We need to understand what they are trying to do. We need to understand that they are monsters. 

Emanuel and his class as part of their offensive have just closed 50 Chicago schools. This is incredible. I do not think any of their kids went to any of these schools.  90% of these schools were African American. Emanuel and his class as part of this offensive allow I in 5 Chicagoans to live in poverty, 33% of the African American people, 24% of the Latino people and 10% of European Americans. 1 in 3 children, approximately 200,000 children, live in poverty.

Then this class refuses to provide jobs for hundreds of thousands especially the youth of the minorities, refuses also to provide social services and income and so shoot them down in the streets or jail them in horrific conditions. Or keep them in such poverty and alienation that they can see no way but to turn in on each other with the horrific murder rate this produces. Over 400 people were murdered in Chicago last year. 

The city of Chicago is ruled by the Chicago capitalist class, by the bankers and the Board of Trade and the stock market. They buy and pay for the politicians and lawyers and their servants such as the Emanuels. They fund their servants such as the cops. The city is in a budget crisis. Emanuel brought in a city wide property tax which hits working class and middle class home owners. The class that run the city refused to even respond to the demand to implement a Financial Transaction Tax which, even at the extremely low rate of 1/1000% would have brought in $10 to $12 billion dollars and solved the problems. But no, the working class and middle class would have to pay because these vultures who run the financial and industrial corporations of the city and the country control the politicians and the mass media.

But so far I have just been looking at the one side of the coin. I have left out another force. If you read article after article in paper after paper, watch news program after news program about the city’s affairs you will hear no mention of it there either. I am talking about the city’s organized and un-organized working class. There are 320 union locals organized in the city and affiliated to the Chicago Federation of Labor. These bring together half a million trade unionists. They include transport, communication, health care, industry, education, water supply, and many other vital sectors. Without these workers organized in these unions the city could not work. It would be completely paralyzed. These unions have the power to change things. Just consider this. 

The Financial Transaction tax. These unions could explain through their membership and resources  what it would mean to the city’s population. No property tax, no cut in pensions, make the swindling speculators , make the rich, make the 1% pay. Then act and make this happen. This is entirely possible. Give the city and these swindling outfits a couple of days to pay up otherwise close them down. They could not speculate, send their vast sums of money round the world if the electrical power was cut to the Stock Exchange, the Board of Trade and the Banks. Mobilize the working class to make this change. Pull the plug. These 1% swindlers do not know how to keep the electricity going. But do not leave it there. Mobilize the working class to increase the minimum wage, to create jobs through public works programs at union rates and conditions, end the mass incarceration and create jobs instead, take on the police brutality, the sexism, the brutality of the system.. This is the way to go forward.

It makes so much sense. And the power exists to make it happen. This power is the trade union movement and the working class organized and unorganized. So why does it not happen? It does not happen because the leaders of the trade unions are supporters of capitalism and completely cowed by the capitalist offensive.  Instead of mobilizing their huge potential forces and drawing with them the unorganized workers these leaders cozy up to the Democratic Party and also to the bosses and for the promise that the workers will not have to give up as much as they might have to give up if they did not cozy up, they hold the workers movement down. They refuse to mobilize the forces in their ranks. They are the problem. They are the problem and a disgrace.

The 1%, their parties and state apparatus, these are the forces that attack working people, these are the forces that initiate and keep going the offensive against the working class. However the reason this 1% are able to keep their offensive going is because the union leaders refuse to mobilize their members and fight back. They refuse to mobilize their members and withdraw their members labor until the offensive is ended and working people get what we all need to live a decent and productive life.

In the Chicagoland area now there is the very inspiring Action Council and Rising Tide movement. With close to 100 different groupings dedicated to opposing climate change, police brutality, racism, and capitalism this is a great cause for hope. These mainly young people have to be given the greatest of praise and support. Their direct action struggles are inspiring. If there is to be a future they will bring it about. But they need allies. This needs to be thought about both by the direct action movement and the trade union movement.

Very few young people are in the trade unions. Very few trade unionists are in the direct action movement. This separation has to be ended. Unity has to be built. All young people who are not in unions should seek out friends and relatives and others who are in unions and seek to get invited to union meetings to speak on their issues and ask for support. They should seek to get union jobs and when in jobs to organize into unions. Every action council should have a union caucus which meets regularly and organizes to build links with, to bridge gaps with, to build links with the minimum wage movement and to help its own members organize in their workplace. These caucuses should also immerse themselves in the extremely rich history of the Chicago union movement.

Every direct action member should seek to become a union member and be active in their union. The best, in fact the only way, that ideas can be tested and clarified is in interaction with the working class. This means putting forward proposals for joint action and struggle to organized and unorganized workers, hearing what they have to say and interacting with them, having a dialogue with them.

The offensive led by Rauner and Emanuel on behalf of their class will not be ended by their temporary fall in support. They or another member of their class will take over. It is up to us to be better prepared, to see who our enemy is and what are their tactics and to unite all sections of the working class and youth in the battle against the capitalist offensive for a working class offensive instead and from this the building of a new and sustainable world. 

Round 3: Chicago: Stop the Property Tax Increase and Budget Cuts!

Stephen Perkins

Resident: Albany Park, Chicago
Green Party

On Wednesday evening, I attended the third in a series of meetings held in the Albany Park community in Chicago on Mayor Emanuel's proposed $550 million tax increase and budget cuts. He has suggested that up to 5,000 teachers will be laid off, 1 in 5 cops let go and 1 out of 10 fire stations closed if the measure is not passed by city council members who will vote later this month.

This meeting was sponsored by Communities United, an organization which advocates and lobbies on behalf of community residents. Albany Park is a predominantly a working class community in Chicago with the most ethnically diverse population in the U.S. Over 35 different languages are spoken at the local high school.

Nearly 100 people turned up for the meeting. Most audience members were working people from various Latin American countries.

The meeting began with different people describing the potential impact of the cuts and tax increase on themselves, their families and the community. One man discussed how when he moved to Albany Park 30 years ago, he paid about $600 per month in rent. Now he has to pay nearly $1200 for a similar apartment, despite household income having stagnated.

Residents talked about the ongoing gentrification of the neighborhood. Over 30,000 Latinos have been displaced due to condo conversion over the last 15-20 years. Because incomes have either stagnated or in some cases declined for members of the community, many people are not able to purchase their own home. Others who have been able to purchase their own residence have seen their property values decline, including this author. The property tax increase certainly won't help either them or people who will see their rents increase as a result of landlords scrambling to cover the increase in expenses. In essence for them/us, the America Dream has turned into the American Nightmare. It was also pointed out that while working people as a whole will feel the impact of the cuts, those who are people of color will be affected the most.

This concretely shows that it is not just Trump and the Republicans who are perpetuating the attacks on working class immigrants, but Democrats like Emanuel as well. Several local politicians all of whom are members of the Democratic Party were invited to attend the meeting. Four of them are alderman, while the other two, State Senator Jaime Andrade (State Representative, 40th District) and Ira Silverstein (Majority Whip, State Senator, 8th District) are members of the Illinois State Legislature.

None of the four alderman including Deb Mell bothered to show up, despite pledging to be in attendance. No doubt the reception that she received at the first Town Hall style debate that she held last week, affected her decision. Only one of them, Carlos Rosa, had an acceptable excuse, as he had a prior commitment to attend a community meeting on affordable housing. As a result, audience members were strongly encouraged to call their offices on the spot. Chants of "Si se puede, si se puede," erupted and the no-shows were roundly booed.

Andrade, who was generally well received, attempted to distance himself from Mell, whose father orchestrated a deal to get him elected to replace his daughter as state representative when she opted to take over her the seat her father held before he retired. Like Silverstein, he proceeded to blame the situation on Il. Gov. Bruce Rauner. When challenged from the floor, why the state of Illinois, which has the fifth largest population, is dead last in education funding, Andrade explained that while the Democrats occupy 71 out of 100 seats, that a relatively small percentage of those individuals do not possess 'Democratic values' and vote to keep their jobs.

This being the case it is time for working people in Albany Park, the city of Chicago, the state of Illinois and beyond to break with the Democratic (and Republican) Parties and truly support independent political activity. Given the failure of the union leadership and the labor movement to build its own political party to represent working people, the more conscious elements need to recognize that at this point in time the Green Party represents that best opportunity to build a political alternative. This does not mean that the Green Party is without its problems. It will need to be transformed into a political party of working people, which supports a democratic socialist platform. At present its class character remains undefined, at least in the U.S., with various ideas competing for attention. Going forward it is our task, to transform it into a vehicle capable of improving the standard of living and quality of life for working people.

 Meanwhile, we need to also organize campaigns around not paying the increase and possibly recalling Emanuel. Merely pressuring Machine politicians will not bring about the desired results and could lead to the dissolution of any movement from being built.