Kari Lydersen is a Chicago-based journalist, author and assistant professor at Northwestern University, where she leads the investigative specialization at the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. Her books include Mayor 1%: Rahm Emanuel and the Rise of Chicago’s 99%.
LaborFeature
Against Trump, For the Common Good: What Chicago Teachers Won in Their Latest Contract
The Chicago Teachers Union has long taken on neoliberal Democrats and won. Their latest contract is a victory against the new Trump administration, leaders say.
Kari Lydersen
LaborFeature
Chicago Teachers Have an Ally As Mayor—Now They’re Fighting for a Historic Contract
The Chicago Teachers Union is working to use its newfound political power to win a broad set of “common good” demands while realizing a vision of world-class public education.
Kari Lydersen
Feature
The Fight to Bring Chicago Home Isn’t Over
A majority of residents didn’t back the measure to fund housing services by taxing the rich—but organizers are already preparing for the next round.
Kari Lydersen
Feature
How Chicago Took a Major Step Toward Tackling the City's Housing Crisis
In a victory for Mayor Brandon Johnson's agenda, City Council members approved a referendum on the Bring Chicago Home ordinance that will ask voters if the city should enact a progressive real estate tax to confront homelessness.
Kari Lydersen
Feature
The Fight Is On To Stop the Sale of the Only Municipally-Owned Railroad in the U.S.
Cincinnati voters are about to decide whether to privatize their city’s railroad by selling it to Norfolk Southern. A grassroots campaign is organizing to block the sale.
Kari Lydersen
Labor
A New Climate Rule Could Change the Face of America’s Railways
An alliance of labor and environmental groups is taking on the rail industry to pass a rule that would create both zero-emissions trains and good union jobs.
Kari Lydersen
Climate
Can Mayor Brandon Johnson Create a Green New Deal for Chicago?
Johnson ran on a promise to make environmental justice central to policy making. Now that he’s in office, organizers expect him to deliver.
Kari Lydersen
Viewpoint
Brandon Johnson Won the Race for Chicago’s Mayor By Loving and Fighting for the City
Johnson defeated a conservative opponent in Paul Vallas and will take office as a strong supporter of progressive politics and workers’ rights.
Kari Lydersen
Viewpoint
After a Stunning Election, the Future of Chicago Is Up for Grabs
Incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot is out and voters now face a choice between former public school teacher Brandon Johnson and corporate education reformer Paul Vallas.
Kari Lydersen
LaborCover Story
The Case for Nationalizing the Railroads
Workers say now is the time to do the impossible.
Kari Lydersen
Why Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot Is Facing an Uphill Battle for Re-Election
Accusations of broken promises may spell a dim outlook for incumbent Lori Lightfoot, community organizers say.
Kari Lydersen
Labor
Nurses in the U.S. Are Suffering "Moral Injury"
The pandemic and staffing crisis have left healthcare workers with invisible wounds.
Kari Lydersen
Labor
As Illinois Coal Jobs Disappear, Some Are Looking to the Sun
While Illinois phases out coal, clean energy jobs hold promise—both for displaced coal workers, and those harmed by the fossil fuel economy.
Kari Lydersen
LaborFeature
In the Coal Mines, Workers Are Dying to Make a Living
Mining companies increasingly rely on cheaper contractors who face longer hours and higher risk of accidents.
Kari Lydersen
Labor
Over Mayor Lightfoot’s Objections, Chicago Is Set to Finally Enact an Elected School Board
Despite some qualms with the legislation, public education advocates are cheering the embrace of school democracy over mayoral control.
Kari Lydersen
Labor
Warehouse Workers Are on the Front Lines of the Covid Crisis. They're Worried They'll Be Passed Over for the Vaccine.
Low-wage warehouse workers, many of whom are temporary, are demanding access to the vaccine.
Kari Lydersen
Feature
Hospital Food Workers and Janitors Are Stuck In a “Death Trap”
Overlooked workers are risking their lives to keep the healthcare system running. Now, they're fighting back.
Kari Lydersen
Dispatch
These Blue-Collar Trump Supporters Think the Economy Is Great. Your Move, Democrats.
At Trump’s Milwaukee rally, supporters boasted that he’s ushered in an economic miracle. Democrats face the challenge of convincing them otherwise.
Kari Lydersen
Labor
Why Are Chicago Teachers Striking Against Mayor Lori Lightfoot? They’ve Been “Lied To” Before.
Kari Lydersen
Labor
Chicago Teachers Are Threatening To Strike Against New Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Here’s Why.
Kari Lydersen
Viewpoint
A Historic Election in Chicago Cracks the Machine
The old guard is on the way out, and a progressive future for the city is coming into focus.
Kari Lydersen
Feature
Mayor 1% Rahm Emanuel Will Not Be Missed in Chicago
Emanuel will be remembered for his arrogance, impatience and disregard for regular Chicagoans.
Kari Lydersen
Labor
In a Landslide Vote, the LA Times Just Unionized, Upending a Long Anti-Labor History
Kari Lydersen
Labor
Opponents of School Privatization Are Very Worried About a New Law in Illinois. Here’s Why.
Kari Lydersen
Culture
At the Bullfrog, Those Left Behind by the Global Economy Find Relief—and a Place to Talk Trump
In a Jamestown, N.Y., hotel and bar, down-and-out former factory workers seek solidarity and camaraderie—often expressed in shared rants about immigrants or liberals.
Kari Lydersen
Feature
The Heroin Crisis We’ve Ignored
A compassion deficit afflicts Black and Latino users.
Kari Lydersen
Labor
Chicago Window Workers Who Occupied Their Factory in 2008 Win New Bankruptcy Payout
Kari Lydersen
Labor
Chicago Car Wash Workers: Owner Took Their Tips, Said They Were His
Kari Lydersen
Labor
New Play Chronicles the Toll of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill on Workers
Kari Lydersen
Labor
Railroad Work Is Getting More and More Dangerous. These Workers Want To Change That.
Kari Lydersen
Labor
“It Is Right to Resist”: The Revolutionary Art of Pilsen’s Jose Guerrero
Kari Lydersen
Dispatch
Yoopers Have Road Rage
Michiganders are up in arms about a proposed mining road
Kari Lydersen
Labor
Union-backed Sue Sadlowski Garza Claims Win Over Rahm Emanuel Ally in Southeast Chicago (Updated)
Kari Lydersen
Labor
Bernie Sanders Endorses Chuy Garcia, Calls Chicago Election a ‘Political Revolution’
Kari Lydersen
Feature
With Chicago Tired of “Mayor 1%,” Chuy García Could Actually Win His Runoff with Rahm Emanuel
While money poured into the recent mayoral and aldermanic elections, voters showed that they are tired of business as usual.
Kari Lydersen
Feature
Chicago Progressive Groups Aim to End Rahm Emanuel’s City Council Stranglehold
Two Chicago coalitions are working to elect progressive candidates in the 2015 elections—and build an enduring movement.
Kari Lydersen
Labor
Remembering the Deadly Donora Smog
Kari Lydersen
Dispatch
Chicago’s Cop Watchers
Youth stand up to police violence.
Kari Lydersen
Labor
Rank-and-File Rail Workers Rebel Against Single-Person Crews
Kari Lydersen
Labor
Chicago Movers Stage Groundbreaking Strike
Kari Lydersen
Labor
Want To Take Back Chicago? Here’s How, Say Activists
Kari Lydersen
Labor
Despite Promised Jobs, Desert Town Opposes Giant Copper Mine
Kari Lydersen
Feature
Amara and Goliath
It's official: Rahm Emanuel has a challenger.
Kari Lydersen
Labor
A Brief, Bikeable 150-Year History of Labor Uprisings
Kari Lydersen
Labor
Deep Miner: ‘One Mistake and You’re Dead’
Kari Lydersen
Labor
Shutting Down the (Closed) Schools to Prison Pipeline
Kari Lydersen
Feature
Chicago’s Hidden Stop-and-Frisk
A lack of data makes police profiling difficult to prove in Chicago, but the arrest of two Latino outreach workers suggests it's alive and well.
Kari Lydersen
Labor
Despite Community Pleas, Three Chicago Schools Slated for Privatization
Kari Lydersen