Kari Lydersen

Kari Lydersen, an In These Times contributing editor, is a Chicago-based journalist writing for various publications, including the Chicago Reader and The Progressive. Her most recent book is Revolt on Goose Island. She can be reached at kari@inthesetimes.com.

Lydersen is the author or co-author of three books: Out of the Sea and Into the Fire: Latin American-US Immigration in the Global Age; Shoot an Iraqi Art, Life and Resistance Under the Gun (co-authored with Wafaa Bilal), which she was recently named a ‘Best Book of 2008’ by Booklist; and Revolt on Goose Island: The Chicago Factory Takeover, and What it Says About the Economic Crisis.

Lydersen, a former staff member of the Washington Post’s (now defunct) Chicago bureau, teaches journalism at Columbia College and to high-school students. Her work can be read at www.karilydersen.com.

Articles by Kari Lydersen

• Detroit Restaurant Workers Finally at Table with Management
  July 30, 2010
• Iraqi Electricity Union Offices Raided Under Minister’s Draconian Decree
  July 26, 2010
• Chicago Teachers Laid Off in Droves
  July 23, 2010
• On the Border and in the Fields, Dying from the Heat
  July 19, 2010
• 'Nothing Stops a Bullet Like a Job'
  July 16, 2010
• Union Publications Persevere Through Media Crisis—and Deserve to be Celebrated
  July 12, 2010
• No Summer Vacation for New Chicago Teachers Union Leadership
  July 9, 2010
• Fired for Opposing Coup, Honduran Educators Go on Hunger Strike
  July 5, 2010
• Honduras Coup Anniversary: ‘What to the Oligarchy Are Crimes, to Us Are Rights’
  June 29, 2010
• From the U.S. Social Forum: A Tricky Road to a Healthier Future
  June 28, 2010
• Activists Hash Out a Labor Manifesto at the U.S. Social Forum
  June 25, 2010
• Union: Chicago Adjuncts Fired for Organizing
  June 21, 2010
• Black Shirt Friday Commemorates Railroad Worker Deaths
  June 18, 2010
• Come March With Us: Congress Hotel Strikers Celebrate 7th Anniversary
  June 13, 2010
• Govt. Tear Gas Evicts Mexican Miners After Three-Year Strike
  June 10, 2010
• Chicago Wal-Mart Vote Once Again Delayed, Amid Labor Activist Resistance
  June 7, 2010
• I Am an Organizer: Women Hone Leadership Skills at Annual Labor Conference
  June 5, 2010
• Squeezed Between State and Federal Labor Laws
  May 24, 2010
• Global Trade Watch: Don’t Believe the Free-Trade Hype
  May 21, 2010
• The Possible British Airways Strike: A View from Heathrow
  May 20, 2010
• Hoffa Affirms Ouster of Teamsters Local 743 Reformers
  May 17, 2010
• Rail Crew Drivers: Working Sick and Sick of Waiting
  May 14, 2010
• Natural Gas Fuels Steel Industry Rebound, Job Creation
  May 10, 2010
• Green Jobs on the Rails?
  May 7, 2010
• Revisiting the 'Charleston 5' Struggle, A Decade Later
  May 3, 2010
• Progressive Longshoremen Fight Against ‘Race to Bottom’
  April 30, 2010
• Chicago Death Drives Railroad Workers’ Remote-Control Message Home
  April 26, 2010
• A New Appreciation for Doormen?
  April 23, 2010
• Florida Farmworker March Ends, but Fight Continues
  April 19, 2010
• Farmworkers March Across Florida for Freedom, Fair Wages
  April 19, 2010
• Long-Running Philly Guards Struggle Heats Up, as City Council Enters Fray
  April 14, 2010
• Strike Averted, As UIC Grad Students Secure Contract to Their Liking
  April 12, 2010
• Chicago Grad Students Ready to Strike Over Tuition Waivers
  April 5, 2010
• Federal Action Needed to Protect Port Truckers from Clean Air Catch 22
  April 2, 2010
• Driving 'Mobile Sweatshops,' Cabbies Become A New Face of Movement
  March 30, 2010
• Building Bridges, Opening Doors: Labor Education Conference Charts Movement’s Future
  March 26, 2010
• Fired Worker Sparks Organizing Campaign at Family-Owned Chicago Grocery
  March 22, 2010
• Battle Brewing Between Mexican Miners, Govt., After Court Rules Strike Illegal
  March 19, 2010
• Fired Warehouse Workers to Vacuum-Maker: 'Clean Up Your Act!'
  March 15, 2010
• A Cry in the Dark? Q & A With Alabama Living-Wage Activist
  March 11, 2010
• Florida Modern-Day Slavery Museum Hits the Road
  March 7, 2010
• Stop and Go Negotiations in Alabama, as ‘Crimson Ride’ Drivers Push for Better Wages
  March 5, 2010
• Letter from the UP: Union Members at the Iron Inn
  March 1, 2010
• Goodbye Wifes and Daughters: Another Cautionary Coal Story
  February 26, 2010
• After Long Wait and Protests, Laid-Off Quad City Workers Reach Settlement
  February 19, 2010
• The ‘Clean Energy Arms Race’ Heats Up in Wisconsin
  February 18, 2010
• Michigan Yoopers Keep Close Eye on Calif. Mining Struggle
  February 12, 2010
• Stuck on the 'Low Road': Restaurant Workers Speak Out in New Landmark Studies
  February 10, 2010
• ‘More Terror’ in Honduras, as Another Unionist Murdered
  February 8, 2010
• UE Election Victory: Drivers at Hemisphere’s Largest ‘Inland Port’ Join the Fold
  February 5, 2010
• A Military Murder
  February 4, 2010
• Opportunity Not So Equal
  January 29, 2010
• Another Window Story? Yawn…
  January 29, 2010
• Click Here! Fake Union Advertising Scams Flourish Online
  January 23, 2010
• Company Boycott Called by Fired Warehouse Workers
  January 19, 2010
• Chicagoans Demand Public Services, Public Jobs on MLK Day
  January 18, 2010
• Clean Coal Jobs? Author Mines History to Dispel Myths
  January 15, 2010
• Sex Workers Risk Violence, Arrest—What Can be Done?
  January 10, 2010
• Crunch Time: Tunisian Union Protests Nestle Plant Sale
  January 8, 2010
• San Diego Cab Drivers Celebrate Holidays with a Strike
  December 30, 2009
• ‘Revolutionary Lemonade Stand’ Makes Labor Struggles Fashionable
  December 25, 2009
• One Year After: Republic Workers Face Hard Times With High Hopes
  December 22, 2009
• Ole Ole! Chicago Restaurant Workers Begin Negotiations
  December 19, 2009
• When Miners March: West Va. Coalfield Tales Still Resonate
  December 18, 2009
• The Strange Hogan Family/Teamsters Saga Continues
  December 11, 2009
• Forging International Labor Solidarity in Wartime No Easy Task
  December 6, 2009
• Working in the Shadows: Undercover Writer Sheds Light on Immigrant Labor
  December 4, 2009
• Detroit Restaurant Workers Hungry for Justice
  November 27, 2009
• Who Would Benefit From ‘Gitmo North’?
  November 25, 2009
• In Chicago—And Around U.S.—Workers Continue Wage Theft Fight
  November 23, 2009
• Exhibits of Conscience
  November 20, 2009
• Union Sparring in California Gets Even Uglier
  November 14, 2009
• Manager's Conviction Cold Comfort for Detained Immigrant Workers
  November 13, 2009
• Hard-Wired for PTSD: Scientists Shed Light on Troops' Occupational Risk
  November 9, 2009
• The Hidden Cost of Storytelling: Journalists and PTSD
  November 5, 2009
• Rank & File Rabble-Rousers Agree: Union Leaders Out of Touch
  November 1, 2009
• Good News for Former Republic Windows Workers
  October 30, 2009
• Rethinking Green Jobs on the Rez
  October 26, 2009
• Native American Uranium Miners Still Suffer, As Industry Eyes Rebirth
  October 24, 2009
• Chronicling Illinois’ Forgotten Mine Wars
  October 16, 2009
• Clean Coal: A Dirty Business?
  October 10, 2009
• Bronx Bakery Closing Imminent, But Union Continues Fighting
  October 7, 2009
• Activists, Unionists Hold National Conference to ‘Fight Back’
  October 4, 2009
• American Apparel Stripped of 1,800 Workers—to What Effect?
  October 1, 2009
• Michael Moore Shows Scrappy Union Some Love in 'Capitalism'
  September 26, 2009
• Mexican Maquila Worker Femicide Back in Spotlight
  September 25, 2009
• Despite Recession, Millions of U.S. Migrant Workers Stay Put
  September 19, 2009
• Landmark Verdict: Jury Slaps ADM With $6.7M Wrongful Death Judgment
  September 18, 2009
• Bringing Black Americans Into the Green Economy
  September 12, 2009
• Tar Sands: Big Money, But at What Cost?
  September 5, 2009
• In Great Lakes, Invasive Species Create Labor Quandary
  September 4, 2009
• Chicago Teamsters Strike for Healthcare and Steady Wage
  August 29, 2009
• Canadian Steel Workers Take on Global Mining Giant
  August 28, 2009
• Hartmarx 'Victory' No Longer Sweet for Rock Island Workers
  August 22, 2009
• Salvadorans Fight Privatized 'Agua Apocalyse'
  August 21, 2009
• A Taxing Profession: Cabbies Face Low Pay, Long Hours, High Risk
  August 15, 2009
• Honduras Coup: The Labor Angle
  August 14, 2009
• Litterers or Life-Savers?
  August 12, 2009
• Colombian Unionists Still Under Attack
  August 8, 2009
• In Rural Michigan, Prison-Closing Blues
  August 7, 2009
• A Toothier WARN Act for Workers?
  August 2, 2009
• Green Jobs: Hope and Hype
  July 31, 2009
• ‘Green Jobs’ Aren’t Growing Quickly at Republic Factory in Chicago
  July 25, 2009
• The Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ Burrito Battle
  July 25, 2009
• Mexican Miners’ Strike Enters Second Year, as Cross-Border Solidarity Continues
  July 18, 2009
• Labor Organization Tries to Stir up Restaurant Worker Solidarity
  July 17, 2009
• Fighting the Cloud Factory
  July 6, 2009
• The Legacy Lives On
  June 28, 2009
• Coal Mountain Elementary
  June 4, 2009
• Global Warming Accelerates
  April 1, 2009
• In Mexico, Resistance is Futile
  February 12, 2009
• No Choice for Immigrants
  December 29, 2008
• Monsanto Beets Down Opposition
  November 21, 2008
• An Unfolding Crisis in the Wake of Mississippi ICE Raid
  September 19, 2008
• Canaries in the Uranium Mine
  June 23, 2008
• Dirty Smoke Signals
  April 28, 2008
• Salties Ordered to Swish and Spit
  March 5, 2008
• No New Year Resolutions?
  December 17, 2007
• Harassment Unchecked at Army Hotel
  October 15, 2007
• On Strike Without a Union
  September 12, 2007
• In the Crosshairs
  June 15, 2007
• Fighting Corporate Copper in Bougainville
  May 31, 2007
• Abuses Alleged During Immigration Raid
  April 23, 2007
• Robben Island Singers
  April 3, 2007
• Rolling Back the Regs
  March 1, 2007
• Families Behind Bars
  February 6, 2007
• Kiko Martinez: Watch Listed for Life
  January 19, 2007
• Immigrants Sue to Retrieve Funds Seized in Arizona
  November 8, 2006
• An Activist Left Behind
  October 27, 2005
• Women's Work
  July 26, 2005
• The Ousting of Obrador
  April 13, 2005
• Project Kesher: Creating Connections
  December 16, 2004
• Migrant Pickers Expose Slavery Rings
  January 26, 2004
• Vicious Circle
  November 17, 2003
• The Disappeared
  May 19, 2003
• Home Care Hardship
  October 25, 2002
• Murder in Chiapas
  October 11, 2002
• Camping Out
  March 29, 2002

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