News

After reading Runaway Inequality, what next?

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A friend writes: “I have a small book club reading Runaway Inequality as part of our Indivisible Suffragists Group. We will finish the first week in November. What should our next steps be? There are four of us.” We asked some Reversing Runaway Inequality trainers for their suggestions. Margarita Hernandez said: “There is a huge tax fight right now that folks should plug into. It’s not enough they learn about runaway inequality but now it’s time for them to step up to fight back. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders talk about the plan in a video here. She should try to do short presentations at her local community …

Read moreAfter reading Runaway Inequality, what next?

Link: Stripmining Toys

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What can happen when debt is used to buy a troubled business and financial manipulation ensues. The bankruptcy of Toys R Us. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/09/toys-r-us-and-the-trump-voter

We’ve Updated the Trainers Map!

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We have 26 new members who would like to participate in Train the Trainer sessions to Reverse Runaway inequality. They’ve signed up from across the country. Meanwhile we’re working with local groups and Trained Trainers to bring trainings to areas with enough interest across the country. Here’s the full map of interested trainers on the continental US.

A report from our Wilmington NC appearances and training

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Les was in Wilmington NC on September 19 and 20. George Vlasits, one of the event’s organizers, sent us a report about what went on: On September 19th and 20th a coalition of 15 labor and community groups sponsored a book tour on Runaway Inequality by Les Leopold in Wilmington, North Carolina. The two public events, one at the ILA Union Hall and the other at the University of North Carolina – Wilmington, drew 200 activists and students to hear Les’ presentation on “What Happened to the American Dream?” Les also spoke to a sociology class at UNCW and was interviewed …

Read moreA report from our Wilmington NC appearances and training

Train the Trainer: Open Oakland CA Session

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While in Oakland for the CWA, USW, Sierra Club, Bluegreen Alliance trainings, in September 2017, RI also held its first training open to the community.  While in Oakland we also held our first at-large train-the-trainer, open to anyone in the community. Most of the twenty-four participants came from the Bay area, a few from further afield in California, and three traveled all the way from Ashland, Oregon. Participants were former, current, and new activists involved in organizations like The Incorruptibles, Equitable Food Initiative, Indivisible, Democratic Socialists of America, the Longshore & Warehouse Union, the National Nurses Union, or no organization …

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Labor-Environmental Train-the-Trainer: CWA, USW, Sierra Club, Bluegreen Alliance, in Oakland CA

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This is a report about a Train the Trainer session held in Oakland CA in September 2017, with members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), United Steelworkers (USW), Sierra Club, and BlueGreen Alliance. After a successful pilot workshop with labor and environmental activists earlier this year, Runaway Inequality.org returned to Oakland for a joint two-day train-the-trainer session. Twenty-six newly minted trainers from CWA, USW, the Sierra Club, and the BlueGreen Alliance will take the education back to their locals and chapters. A coordinating team of all four organizations will pair up labor and environmental trainers to bridge the false …

Read moreLabor-Environmental Train-the-Trainer: CWA, USW, Sierra Club, Bluegreen Alliance, in Oakland CA

Training the Trainer: United Auto Workers (UAW) Region 9A Conference

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This is a report on recent Runaway Inequality work at the UAW Region 9A Conference, in August 2017. Runaway inequality trainers held workshops for all 120 participants at Region 9A’s annual conference. Trainers ran four simultaneous workshops, including our first ever in Spanish for conference delegates from Puerto Rico. UAW Region 9A director Julie Kushner explained why she invited us. “Since the presidential election, I’ve been thinking we need to do a better job helping our members connect the dots between economic justice and political solutions. I heard about the ‘Runaway Inequality’ education module at the Working Families Party national …

Read moreTraining the Trainer: United Auto Workers (UAW) Region 9A Conference

Wilmington North Carolina Events with Les Leopold

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At 7 p.m. Tuesday, September 19, Les Leopold will give a presentation, What Happened to the American Dream, at the Wilmington ILA Union Hall, 1305 S. Fifth Ave. The public is invited. At 5 p.m. on Wednesday, September 20, Leopold will reprise his presentation at UNCW, with a Q+A session to follow. Daniel Buffington wrote in the Wilmington Star News this week: “The title of Al Hunt’s Sept. 4 op/ed column, “Flat wages drive instability,” points out how American workers have been left out of economic growth over the past 40 years and the dangers that represents. Workers have not …

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