Local

United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) 1059 told local Kroger members earlier this week: “To this point, there is no firm commitment from Kroger to return to the bargaining table, but we expect further communications from the Company this week.”

Since this letter, Kroger employees told the Free Press that 1059 has alerted union stewards they may give authorization to strike, which could occur today (Wednesday). UFCW 1059 represents 12,500 Kroger associates in 84 stores. Some are part-time, such as teenagers and those on the autism spectrum.

But there’s the difference – the majority of 1059 members work full-time and are longtime veterans of Kroger, like the 40-year union steward we spoke with, or those who stock our freezers for hours on end, drive a forklift in warehouses, or man the registers eight hours a day.

One thing the pandemic proved is that every community has a far greater dependence on fulltime grocery store workers than was once apparent.

Wednesday, September 21, 6pm

North High Brewing [Short North], 1288 N. High St.

This month’s “Ales and Climate Tales” will present local beekeeper Luke Howard and his work on local environmental education for Columbus businesses.

Hosted by Citizens Climate Lobby [Columbus Chapter].

Facebook Event

In the past few months, I have renewed my love for all-things Star Wars, watching and re-watching the movies, TV shows, and limited series. While this franchise takes place in a galaxy far, far away, one scene from Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith feels as if it is happening in Ohio today. 

As the democratic Republic is transformed into the evil Galactic Empire, amid the rancorous cheering of fellow senators, Senator Padmé Amidala exasperatedly comments, “So this is how liberty dies, with thunderous applause.”

While it might seem reductive to apply the events of a science-fiction movie to the politics of our own state, Ohio Republicans have gerrymandered their way to veto-proof supermajorities in the State House and State Senate in a manner that threatens our own democracy. 

"Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul" is based on Writer/Director Adamma Ebo's short from 2018 with the same name, inspired by her complicated relationship with organized religion. Ebo's screenplay critiques the current status of Black churches, but it comes from a place of love.

The film is done in an "Office" styled mockumentary that follows Pastor Lee-Curtis Childs (Sterling K. Brown) of a fictional megachurch and his devoted wife and first lady Trinitie Childs (Regina Hall). Their church was highly successful and once served a congregation in the tens of thousands until Lee-Curtis found himself in a sexual misconduct scandal, which drove away most of his large congregation and inevitably caused those precious donations to disappear. Trinitie stays by his side as they try to rebuild their church and reputation for the Lord, but in reality, to maintain their extravagant lifestyle.

The duo hires an award-winning documentarian to make a film about the weeks leading up to their megachurch's grand re-opening. Of course, their attempt at documenting their comeback journey does not quite go as smoothly as they had planned.

Homebound Entrepreneurs Against DeWines goes after Republican Governor Mike DeWine for avoiding former President Donald Trump, embracing President Joe Biden

To keep the general election season interesting, the anti-DeWine PAC Homebound Entrepreneurs Against DeWines has released another quirky ad called “Democrats for DeSwine,” which takes on Governor Mike DeWine’s real relationship with President Joe Biden. The ad features the vocal talents of comedian James Adomian.

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon recently claimed that returning to the office will help improve diversity. And if he’s right, that’s an important argument for office-centric work. After all, extensive research shows that improving diversity boosts both decision-making and financial performance.

Yet does office-centric work really improve diversity? Meta Platforms - the owner of Facebook and Instagram - decided to offer permanent fully-remote work options after COVID hit.

Tuesday, September 20
Register to vote! 
The last day to register to vote for the general election this year is October 11.
More information

Remarks on September 19, 2022 for online event at https://peaceweek.org
Powerpoint here.

Thank you for including us. After I speak, World BEYOND War Education Director Phill Gittins will discuss the educational work that can move us away from war, and World BEYOND War Canada Organizer Maya Garfinkel will discuss the nonviolent activism that can do the same. This way, I can talk just about the easy part, which is why we should abolish war.

Some great news for a change: the United States hit a record low rate of poverty with a decrease from 9.2% at that level to 7.8%, according to the Supplemental Poverty Measure that pretty much counts everything from all governmental aid to wages and so forth. Additionally, child poverty was only 5.2%, a drop of 4.5 percentage points from 2020.

How did it happen? Simply put, low-income families were given more money by the federal government. For a change, the money went directly to families through various benefits, special guaranteed family allotments for children, and unemployment benefits increases. By directly, I mean that for the most part the states, red or blue, were not able to prevent families and workers from receiving the benefits by diverting the money or requiring burdensome tests and disqualifications. There’s no question that it cost big money for the Biden administration to make this happen and a huge pandemic-level crisis to force the hand of Congress, but it confirms what National Welfare Rights Organization leaders just to say repeatedly: money is what ends poverty. Period.   Full-stop.