Fighting Shutdowns in Sunny California

[Excerpt] Contrary to the belief that only the Northeast is suffering as the sun-belt expands, California is being wracked by severe economic upheavals. High levels of unemployment persist in many areas of the state, fed by a constant stream of closures and layoffs in all sectors of the economy. Between 1981 and 1983 over 1,000 California firms closed permanently, and more than 165,000 jobs were lost. Another 414,000 workers lost their jobs as the ripple effect hit suppliers and small businesses. In response to the growing number of plant closings, local coalitions have formed throughout California, including major industrial unions, churches, and diverse community organizations. These coalitions have developed a variety of responses to closures: organizing to force corporate responsibility in dealing with workers; finding ways to keep plants open by using worker buyouts or product diversification; pushing for legislation; promoting military conversion, and increasing labor-community input into economic planning. Whether in a legislative fight or a local response to save jobs in one plant, the California coalitions demonstrate that workers faced with plant closures are not helpless, that workers, unions and communities can fight the economic upheavals they face

A Weighty Issue: Finding the Balance Between Justice and Mercy in the Classroom

Considering the conundrum educators face with administering ethical decisions concerning their students, the author discusses the options of Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mill, which utilize rationalism to adjudicate decisions requiring issues of equity in their classrooms. However, the author addresses the conflicts inherent among Christian educators whose spiritual perspectives transcend rational presuppositions as the only methods to make decisions that contribute balance and fairness to those deciding between justice and mercy

Federal Protection of Employee Rights Within Trade Unions

The Bill of Rights provision of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 are designed to guarantee and protect employee representation in industrial government. The author, pointing to the method of Mr. Chief Justice Stone in Steele v. Louisville & N.R.R., suggests that the act\u27s purpose may be advanced by an interpretation guided by the consitutional precedents applicable to public government

Emden\u27s For white folks who teach in the hood ... and the rest of ya’ll too: Reality pedagogy and urban education (Book Review)

A review of Emdin, C. (2016). For white folks who teach in the hood ... and the rest of ya’ll too: Reality pedagogy and urban education. Boston: Beacon Press. 248 pp. $24.99. ISBN 978080700640

Bradley and Muller\u27s Church history: An introduction to research methods and resources, second edition (Book Review)

A review of Bradley, J. A., & Muller, R.A. (2016). Church history: An introduction to research methods and resources, second edition. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing. 214 pp. $30.00. ISBN 978080287405