Sarah Lazare, Rebecca Burns, Author at Workday Magazine

Midwest

“Don’t Open the Door”: How Chicago Is Frustrating ICE’s Campaign of Fear

By Sarah Lazare and Rebecca Burns | January 30, 2025

This article is a joint publication of Workday Magazine and In These Times. “Tom Homan said Chicago is very organized,” Margarita Klein, director of member organizing for Arise Chicago, proclaimed gleefully in Spanish to a room of 80 people at an immigrant rights training, many of whom laughed and clapped in response.

Klein was calling back to a CNN appearance two days earlier by Trump’s handpicked border czar. “Sanctuary cities are making it very difficult,” Homan told anchor Kaitlan Collins of the administration’s immigration sweeps. “For instance, Chicago … they’ve been educated on how to defy ICE, how to hide from ICE.”

When Trump moved to make an example of Chicago, sending federal immigration authorities to the city on Sunday, Chicago’s immigrant rights community was braced for it. The city’s vast networks of workers’ centers, unions, and community organizations have spent months preparing, disbursing flyers and cards, and sending the message to residents: Don’t talk to ICE.

Community

Chicago Teachers Didn’t Win Everything, But They’ve Transformed the City—And the Labor Movement

By Rebecca Burns | November 5, 2019

Members of SEIU 73 ratified their contract this week, and CTU members will now have 10 days to do so. But the impact of the two-week walkout is likely to extend far beyond the contracts themselves.

Community

Chicago’s Citywide Strike Just Spread to Charter School Teachers

By Rebecca Burns | October 25, 2019

On Tuesday, the ranks of the striking workers—represented by the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and SEIU Local 73—swelled a little further as nearly 40 teachers walked off the job at Passages Charter School on the city’s north side

Bargaining

What’s at Stake in Chicago Teachers’ Strike: Whether Unions Can Bargain for the Entire Working Class

By Rebecca Burns | October 15, 2019

Ahead of a potential massive strike this week, Chicago teachers are pushing the limits of social justice unionism.

Unions

From Victories to Union Militancy, 5 Reasons for Workers to Celebrate This Labor Day

By Rebecca Burns | August 30, 2019

The history of militant organizing, plus the simple fact that workers deserve more than one holiday, makes Labor Day worth celebrating. And this year, there are more reasons than usual for working people to rejoice.