Chris Hedges: The teacher strike in Chicago is arguably one of the most important labor actions in probably decades

Posted on September 11, 2012 by dandelionsalad

with Chris Hedges
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
September 11, 2012

CTU Strike: 'Democratic Party, Where Are You?'

Image by firedoglakedotcom via Flickr

Sep 11, 2012 by democracynow

DemocracyNow.org As the Chicago public school teachers’ strike enters its second day, we’re joined by the journalist and author Chris Hedges. “The teacher strike in Chicago is arguably one of the most important labor actions in probably decades,” Hedges says. “If it does not prevail, you can be certain that the template for the attack on the union will be carried out across the country against other teachers unions and against the last redoubt of union activity, which is in the public sector of course, fireman and police.” Hedges continues, “It is always the ruling class that determines the parameters of rebellion and resistance. And the Chicago strike illustrates the bankruptcy of both traditional labor and the Democratic Party. And that is why the Occupy movement was so important.” Hedges is the author of the new book with illustrator Joe Sacco, “Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt.”

Chris Hedges: Dems Owe Chicago Teachers Support in “Most Important Labor Action in Decades”

DemocracyNow.org – In the new book, “Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt,” journalist Chris Hedges and illustrator Joe Sacco look at the poorest areas in the United States, “sacrifice zones” where human beings and natural resources have been used and then abandoned. A former New York Times correspondent, Hedges reported from Ground Zero beginning just after the 9/11 attacks. In 2002, he was part of the team of reporters at The New York Times awarded the Pulitzer Prize for the paper’s coverage of global terrorism. Over the past decade he has become one of the leading chroniclers of the state of the nation. Hedges joins us to discuss the 11th anniversary of 9/11 and his tour of the nation’s economic disaster zones.

Chris Hedges on 9/11, Touring U.S. Economic Disaster Zones in New Book

Chris Hedges spent two decades as a foreign reporter covering wars in Latin America, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. His latest books are Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt, Death of the Liberal Class, and The World as It Is: Dispatches on the Myth of Human Progress.

***

DemocracyNow.org – School is out in Chicago for a second day as public school teachers continue their first strike in 25 years. Almost 30,000 teachers and their support staff have walked out over reforms sought by the city’s powerful Mayor, Rahm Emanuel, who is President Obama’s former chief of staff. On Monday, tens of thousands teachers, parents and students marched in the streets of President Obama’s adopted hometown. We go to Chicago to speak with Democracy Now! correspondent Jaisal Noor.