via

As Argentine factories go bankrupt and shut their doors, workers are breaking in, starting the machines up again, electing their own leaders, and running the businesses themselves, putting up fierce resistance when the police try to evict them.

I always thought at a transnational look at Argentina and the USA would be fascinating, so reading this is certainly interesting compared to the article from yesterday. Also, it makes me rethink all about for the different histories of the forms of resistance I have been reading this semester. Thanks Hanvnah for the link

via

About 200 employees of Republic Windows and Doors began their sit-in Friday, the last scheduled day of the plant’s operation.

Leah Fried, an organizer with the United Electrical Workers, said the Chicago-based vinyl window manufacturer failed to give 60 days’ notice required by law before shutting down.

Workers also were angered when company officials didn’t show up for a meeting Friday that had been arranged by U.S. Rep Luis Gutierrez, a Chicago Democrat, she said.

During the peaceful takeover, workers have been shoveling snow and cleaning the building, Fried said.

“We’re doing something we haven’t since the 1930s, so we’re trying to make it work,” Fried said.

We’ll see…

From the NYTimes, The Feminine Critique discusses a report by Catalyst, an organization that does studies on women in the workplace, that examined gender stereotypes in different cultures. It sounds like its a real drag for women in the workplace in any country. The report claims that women are considered lacking when it comes to leadership roles and that “the default mental image of a leader is still male.”

Rules to live by:

Don’t get angry. But do take charge. Be nice. But not too nice. Speak up. But don’t seem like you talk too much. Never, ever dress sexy. Make sure to inspire your colleagues — unless you work in Norway, in which case, focus on delegating instead.

All I can is

Found this in my email from the amazing hanvnah:

The Secretary of Labor has slashed funding for the Women’s Bureau-the only federal agency devoted solely to women’s employment issues. This cut will force the agency to reduce or eliminate vital programs that support working women, including the technical assistance Women Work! provides to our national network.

We demand that the Department of Labor restore funding to the Women’s Bureau and we need your signature to show the strength of our network and demonstrate the importance working women’s issues.

Please sign our petition to save the Women’s Bureau! You can either sign online at www.womenwork.org!

I know you guys know a lot of people who support women’s rights so please forward this email to your friends, family, colleagues and other advocates for women’s labor issues.

Go sign it! I already have.

Also, a word about the amazing hanvnah, you should go see this play she worked hard! on at Theatre J.

And you can read all about it here.

(1) This story from USA Today about pay gaps between men and women makes me a bit depressed. Makes me wonder about places I’ve worked and where my female friends have worked.
(2) Pole dancing a new brand of feminism….??!?!

I find it interesting how whenever anything slightly subversive, like pole-dancing, is proven to actually help women gain confidence it is suddenly branded as “feminist.” Does feminist = subversive?

(3) No link between Abortion, Miscarriage and Breast Cancer

(4) Sheryl and Karl discuss the earth…woah!

(1) “I’m in”

Then I go to check my yahoo mail and find all these stories:

(2) Amsterdam is honoring the oldest profession with a statue!

(3) Hong Kong has some musical condoms

(4) Woman fired for telling truth about the job…to herself.

(1) Term “sex worker” demeaning? USA says yes, so it must be!

“Of course, one can rationalize words such as ’sex worker’ and “child sex worker” in an effort to avoid a demeaning label such as ‘prostitute,” said John Miller, the office’s director.

(2) Forty-one percent of women surveyed said they eat for comfort during the winter holiday season

(3) Black women more likely than white women to die from breast cancer

(4) How Suite It Isn’t: A Dearth of Female Bosses (Actual title. The New York Times is always so clever with their titles!)