Author Profile
Matthew Blake
Matthew Blake is a freelance journalist based in Chicago. He has written for the Chicago Journal, Washington Monthly, Washington Independent and The Nation, among other publications.
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Will Bruce Rauner Be Scott Walker 2.0 for Illinois Unions?
Over the last few years, Republican governors in the Midwest have frequently done battle with organized labor, particularly public employee unions. In 2011, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker sharply curbed the bargaining rights of public... MORE
Working · March 5, 2014
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U.S. Chamber of Commerce ‘Exposes’ Union Backing of Worker Centers
On Tuesday, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce released its second report in three months on worker centers. In it, the prominent pro-business lobbying group doubles down on its claim that the centers... MORE
Working · February 27, 2014
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The Worst Long-Term Unemployment Crisis in 80 Years
Kim Brown says that when she was laid off from her job in November 2011 doing customer service at an electric company in Chicago, she wasn’t too upset. “I thought this... MORE
Working · February 11, 2014
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Illinois Caregivers Press Governor Quinn for a Living Wage
For the last 12 years, Tressa Wilson of Rockford, Ill. has worked full-time at a group home run by the nonprofit Milestone, Inc., caring for clients who have been diagnosed with intellectual disabilities, autism,... MORE
Working · February 5, 2014
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Don’t Call It a Comeback, Quinn
In his yearly “State of the State” address on Wednesday, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (D) enthused that, after numerous financial and ethical crises, the Land of Lincoln is “making a... MORE
Working · January 30, 2014
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Protestors Brave Sub-Zero Weather in Bid To Freeze Chicago’s Charter Expansion
On Tuesday night, a few dozen die-hard Chicago Teachers Union members and students braved the bitter cold to hold an overnight candlelight vigil outside the Chicago Public School’s downtown headquarters, protesting... MORE
Working · January 22, 2014
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On National Day of Action to Reclaim Public Education, Some Chicago Politicians Get Lumps of Coal
“Those aldermen who support the TIF surplus ordinance: They are on our good list,” Michael Brunson, recording secretary for the Chicago Teachers Union, declared to a few dozen protesters on a... MORE
Working · December 10, 2013
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Will Power: 16-Day Strike Helps Public Workers Win Wage Increase
On 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday, union leaders and government officials in Will County, Ill., finally hammered out a contract agreement for county public workers after 15 months of negotiations and a three-week strike. Union... MORE
Working · December 9, 2013
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How To Save Chicago Schools? Fix the Flat Tax, Say Community Members
“It’s just been a lot of chaos,” Chicago parent Wendy Katten said to an audience full of Chicago parents and students regarding the public school district’s last... MORE
Working · November 7, 2013
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Progressive Chicagoans Take Budget Hearings into Their Own Hands—No Emanuel Necessary
Many Chicago progressives might remember Richard M. Daley, the Windy City’s mayor between 1989 and 2011, as ruling with an iron fist, ramming through policies like the midnight demolition of an airport... MORE
Uprising · November 1, 2013
