Unions have been crucial in helping women get rights, better pay and
benefits in the workplace, panelists at a forum in Waukegan stressed
Wednesday evening.
With a backdrop of teacher strikes in Chicago
and Lake Forest, this forum focused not on endorsing candidates for
office, but on dispelling "ignorance" too often associated with unions,
according to an organizer with the pro-union group Industrial Workers of
the World.
“We are in the fight for our life,” said Helen
Ramirez-Odell, a panelist at the forum who worked nearly 44 years as a
Chicago Public Schools nurse and is now a CTU district supervisor. “It’s
taken a lot to get teachers to this point.”
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Thursday marked the one-year anniversary for the repeal of the U.S.
military’s “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy for gay, lesbian and bisexual
service members, an occasion gay rights advocates said should serve as a
reminder of the work still needed to be done to ensure full equal
rights for LGBT military personnel and their families. 
The 
U.S. Rep. Robert Dold (R-10) went against party lines Wednesday and 