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.
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.
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.