Column: data centers -- it's not simple

I’m not going to criticize union workers on data-center job sites.

It may seem contradictory for an opinion column to fail to weigh in on a controversial matter, but when it comes to those who are building data centers, I can’t judge those workers. Accepting a job lasting months and paying union wages is not like distinguishing right from wrong.

It’s not that simple.

It’s not like commenting on an employer breaking the law or politicians maneuvering to keep voters from casting ballots, or crossing a picket line.

Unionists can (and often do) disagree on issues ranging from strategies to structures. But what we have in common is far stronger – and more important – than making some mark in the sand on what type of product or service is OK. It’s almost impossible to meet everyone’s approval.

Further, if a new car is a lemon, the appropriate response is not to attack the UAW, but to demand manufacturers and their engineers address the problem.

Also, of course, there’s the Gospel lesson where Luke reports Jesus’ warning (6:37), “…Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.”

The current needless, maybe contrived, division was summarized in a Politico headline: “Voters fear AI. Unions want the jobs.”

North America's Building Trades Unions reasonably protect good jobs building data centers, and the Census Bureau estimates that data centers account of 2.3% of all construction spending (which means that 97.7% is in other projects – and it’s not like they’re erecting concentration camps for union organizers.)

True, other unions, including the American Association of University Professors, leaders of CWA’s Association of Flight Attendants, and National Nurses United,, advocate a pause in the rapid buildout, as do  some union Locals, such as UNITE HERE Locals in Philadelphia and Seattle, CWA Locals in New Jersey, and UAW Local 4121 in Seattle. Also, SAG-AFTRA and the NewsGuild, have grave concerns about Artificial Intelligence generally.

In June, AFL-CIO convention delegates adopted a resolution calling for additional guardrails for AI in the workplace, including intellectual property protections and transparency initiatives for when the technology was used in hiring, but also demanding that data-center construction be built with union labor and that tech companies pay their share of energy and water costs.

Maybe more importantly, 71% of the American public opposes the construction of AI data centers in their communities, according to a Gallup poll. That opposition is Republican and Democrat, rural and urban, and all regions of the country – although most data centers are in the South (about 750) and the Midwest (some 400), according to Pew Research.

Americans are worried about the effects on utility bills, water consumption, noise, tax subsidies, property-rights issues, Non-Disclosure Agreements some developers require, and the fear that AI eventually will eliminate jobs. (Dario Amodel, CEO of the AI giant Anthropic, has said AI will probably eliminate half of all entry-level, white-collar jobs in the next five years and cause unemployment to rise – up to 20%.

Unions share such concerns.

“This should not be framed as one group of unions against another,” said Dan McConnell, business manager of the Minneapolis Building & Construction Trades Council, who favors enforceable standards. He told “Obey in Advance” author Ginny Hogan of the Labor Politics Substack site, “Strong rules do not block good projects. They help us identify which projects are actually good.”

Politically, hundreds of proposed data centers have been paused or rejected beforehand.

In Illinois – which has attracted billions of dollars in data-center investments in the last five years and already has about 200 data centers – Gov. Pritzker says he opposes “hyperscale” data centers and wants all data centers to pay their fair share, and this summer he took away their tax-credit incentives. On the opposite end of the political spectrum, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state agencies to pause new data center approvals and halt connection studies until thorough audits are done.

Another 71% figure should be considered: That’s the percentage of Americans who approve of labor unions, Gallup reported last month (when a record-high 47% said they wanted unions to have more influence). Could unions building something people oppose alienate our friends and supporters in our communities?

The real dispute may be not who could lose, but who’s winning in the long term, and it’s not well-paid skilled union labor. In Florida, generations of residents are in “an uproar over data centers,” according to the Orlando Sentinel, which editorialized  that “the data center industry is only one face of an arrogant oligarchy that people believe now runs Congress, the courts, the White House, state legislatures and local governments. The oligarchy prospers even when the people don’t.”

For me, it’s far better to stress worker solidarity despite temporary, if conflicting, priorities. Any “schism” will hurt all working people, once more victims of a divide-and-conquer tactic. Unionists eventually need each other, and I won’t scorn union workers building data centers.

Returning to the Gospels, Luke (6:41) records another colorful caution from Jesus: “Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?”

Starbucks Workers United calls for nationwide boycott

Coinciding with the annual release of Starbucks’ fall menu – including its popular pumpkin spice latte (which generated $2 billion for the company in its first decade) – the Starbucks Workers United union has called on all working people to show solidarity by boycotting the coffee chain.

Starbucks has refused to finalize a union contract and has been accused of hundreds of labor violations.

The unionizing effort started in Buffalo, N.Y., in 2021 and has spread to more than 700 stores across the country, representing about 12,000 workers.

“What we’re fighting for is simple: a minimum $17 per hour wage, enough hours to live on, better staffing in our stores, and basic workplace protections,” said Starbucks Workers United (SWU). “Every year, our living costs rise, but our wages don’t keep up—a growing pressure many American workers are feeling as corporate greed accelerates unchecked in our country.”

While the company “fuels working people” across the country every day, the union added, “it’s failing the workers who fuel its profits” – which rose to $25.5 billion last year.

The National Labor Relations Board and its judges “have found that Starbucks committed hundreds of labor violations, and there are currently more than 550 unresolved Unfair Labor Practice charges still pending against the company,” the union continued.

“Starbucks has repeatedly demonstrated a lack of care for the workers who fuel the company’s profits by wasting millions of dollars on AI and technology that doesn’t work, launching countless gimmicky drinks designed to distract from real problems, and inventing pointless policies that do nothing but make our jobs harder,” said SWU. “This ongoing, irrational behavior by Starbucks and its refusal to settle a fair union contract with workers leaves us with no other choice than to call for a boycott. We know when working people stand up together, we win.”

The boycott is being backed by the AFL-CIO and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

“America’s unions are proud to endorse [Starbucks Workers United]’s boycott of stand-alone corporate Starbucks stores,” the AFL-CIO said in a statement. “Workers are fed up with unchecked corporate greed, and we’re standing with them in their fight for a fair contract.”

In West-Central Illinois, coffee shops seem to pop up faster than morel mushrooms in May, so there are plenty of alternatives to crossing a picket line, physical or not. Beyond big outfits such as Dunkin’ and Panera, here are some of the many choices to patronize during the boycott:

METRO PEORIA: Ardor, BrightSide Kitchen, Café Santa Rosa, CxT, Dar Al-Coffee, Intuition, Leaves & Beans, Regulator, Reverence Coffee, Scooter’s, Sweet Beans, and Zion Coffee Bar;

Also, a few miles away are: the Black Maple in Elmwood and Farmington, Coffee Can in Hanna City, Kickabrew in Kickapoo, Nighthawks in Elmwood;

CANTON: Black Maple and Cup of Canton;

GALESBURG: Innkeeper’s and Orange Cup Java Station;

MACOMB: Bold Brew and Sullivan Taylor;

MONMOUTH: Einstein Brothers and Martin House;

QUINCY: Frericks Coffee House and Roost Coffee.

Central Illinois Landmark Foundation designates Detweiller Marina a landmark

The Central Illinois Landmark Foundation on July 20 officially designated the Detweiller Marina and Playground as a landmark, citing its historical significance and distinctive architecture.

Donated to the community through a trust by Thomas Detweiller, the land is where, a few years after Marquette and Joliet first explored the Illinois River…

* La Salle first camped with the area’s indigenous people in 1682. Across the river, he and Henri Tonti established Fort Creve Coeur which was destroyed in a mutiny a few months later.

* In the 1700s, Jean Baptiste du Sable lived in the French settlement in Peoria, married a Potawatomi woman and worked the land before moving north settling in what became Chicago.

* In the early 1800s, Jim Bridger – who became a well-known scout, frontier explorer and mountain man – lived and learned gunsmithing by the Potawatomi people.

* And in 1858, a 1,000-year-old headdress ornament made of embossed copper was discovered in a burial mound here. Subsequently called the “Peoria Falcon,” the important artifact is now held by the Smithsonian Institution.

“Landmark” designations note sites worth preserving and protecting, according to Landmark Illinois, a private nonprofit whose mission is “people saving places for people. Historic preservation is the act of conservation and protection of these buildings, sites, objects and landscapes that are significant to our personal or shared stories. Designation as a local landmark or contributing to a local landmark district offers protection through a local historic preservation ordinance.”

Peoria has had such an ordinance since the 1970s. administered through the Peoria Historic Preservation Commission. The state of Illinois has several related laws, including the Historic Preservation Act. Nationally, sites can be recognized as a National Historic Landmark and/or listed by the National Register of Historic Places.

“Today, we’re taking a first step,” said Blair Gambill of the Central Illinois Landmark Foundation (CILF). “We’ll be applying for state and national designations, too. This is a big deal.”

Besides the history, the Marina’s Harbor House, built in 1963 and designed by respected local architect Cletis Roy Foley is noteworthy, said Molly Bishop, also with the CILF.

“It represents mid-century architecture and design excellence,” she said, citing key traits, “embodying Modernist principles of functional planning, structural expression, and environmental adaptation through its elevated, flood-resistant design and expansive, river-oriented public spaces.”

Foley designed hundreds of projects throughout the area, including churches, schools, civic buildings and recreational facilities, such as the Motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Francis, the downtown YMCA, and CILCO’s headquarters, Bishop said.

Designed as the marina clubhouse and service building for the Detweiller Playground Trust, which is seeking to sell the property to nearby O’Brien Steel, the recently neglected harbor house was constructed, “unlike traditional buildings that conceal structure,” with steel columns, heavy beams and exposed framing beneath the decks, and features public-gathering and meeting spaces, an office, concession area, public restrooms and showers, maintenance/storage below, an unusually large hip roof with a square structure rising from its center, and an observation deck overlooking the river,” Bishop said. Throughout, “rather than making the building a decorative object, Foley's architecture emphasized proportion, light and practicality.

Gambill added, “Together, all these elements tell a rich story of Indigenous heritage, early European exploration, frontier history, and mid-century architecture. Designating this site helps preserve that history for future generations.”

The late Peoria architect Les Kenyon was instrumental in establishing the Central Illinois Landmark Foundation as a nonprofit organization dedicated to identifying, preserving, and promoting the historical sites, architectural heritage, and cultural landmarks of Central Illinois, from the G.A.R. Hall and the Central Building to City Hall and homes on Moss Avenue. This year marks the organization’s 50^th anniversary.

5 questions: A man of many colors

A man of many talents and a master of some, Tim Beeney crossed my path decades ago when he worked at Butch Duffy’s storied blues club in Peoria Heights, where the 20-something was thinking of dabbling in the saxophone.

I wrote a short piece about his enthusiasm, if not his skill, and a daily newspaper editor titled it “Sax Maniac.”

Now 62, Beeney still has many impulses and ideas, if not investor capital – a sort of impresario without portfolio.

“I’m not independently wealthy,” he says, smiling. “I’m independently poor.”

Raised in the northern edge of the West Bluff, Beeney attended Loucks School, Central, ICC, the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse and ISU, and the “college of hard knocks.”

“I’ve traveled around – I did my ‘retirement travel’ when I was young – but Peoria’s always home,” he says.

Is fondness for Peoria has driven him to ask why such-and-such doesn’t happen, and then trying to do something. For instance, a few years ago he thought it would be nice to have a small concert on the Bob Michel Bridge, so he organized several local musicians to entertain on and around it for 12 hours one day – without objection from traffic or police.

Lately, he voiced concerns that old theaters such as downtown’s Apollo aren’t in use, and when he was told that there’s interest in purchasing the Apollo (plus developing the Madison and a new owner at the century-old Palace Theater in Elmwood, he said, “That’s good!”

A long-time bicyclist who used to bike 13 miles to work, Beeney years ago ran Bicycle Bus on West Main Street, and muses about helping start a similar venture also featuring pottery and coffee along Camp Street in East Peoria, and even another “bridge show,” this time on the McCluggage Bridge “when bike lane’s complete and the time’s right.”

Beeney’s a wheeler-dealer professionally, too, but he’s down-to-Earth, having been a truck driver for 26 years, for the last eight years for FedEx. Personally, he’s busy with bees and gardening, and looks to get back to rock-climbing at First Ascent Peoria, where he wonders whether he could once more complete dozens of “routes” there over a few days, as he did a while back.

“It was rough, but I’m glad I did it, and I’d like to do it again,” he says.

Beeney made time to chat at his East Bluff home.

 

What’s your favorite song – some go-to tune?

“The Wheel” by Jerry Garcia – “The wheel is turning and you can't slow down. You can't let go and you can't hold on. You can't go back and you can't stand still; if the thunder don't get you then the lightning will.”

 

In July, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy re-directed $1.73 billion in federal grants away from transportation projects and ridiculed what he called “DEI bike lanes.” How does government connecting bikes to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion strike you?

It’s ridiculous – and I’m not a huge proponent of bike lanes themselves. Roads should be shared. And anything that gets us off our asses and burns calories instead of burning oil is good. A better solution is better education [about bikes]. Bikes are a legitimate mode of transportation.

 

In your job, you travel a lot. Any favorite towns?

I’ve come to enjoy the Macomb-to-Champaign route that passes through Havana. I really like Havana.

 

Salsa or guacamole?

Guacamole, definitely.

 

Is there anything you used to care about that you really don’t any longer?

Probably a lot of stuff. I guess “bicycle advocacy” reached its limit as an interest. It’s still important and I’m not done riding and glad I helped started Bike Peoria, but it’s others’ turn now.

‘GLORY DAYS’ -- Peorian's book rekindles memories of past decades’ music scene

If you vividly remember all the wonderful music and related culture of the 1950s, ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, you probably weren’t there, as it’s said.

But now, vague recollections can come alive with “Every Picture Tells A Story,” Janie Grier Kelley’s 236-page package of four booklets recounting decades of Central Illinois rock ‘n’ roll, with more than 1,200 images of hundreds of artists and related people, places and things.

I met Janie in 1985 when three young women calling themselves the Aquanettes wore shimmering gowns and sang girl-group numbers at a party: Sally Weisenburg, Nancy Slevin and Janie.

“I couldn’t sing but we all looked good,” she remembers, laughing.

Last fall, the 72-year-old native Peorian who graduated from Central and SIU-Carbondale before spending 34 years at Dynamic Graphics, Multi-Ad Services, and a stint at Caterpillar before retiring in 2015 felt a now-or-never impulse to do this project.

“Last September we had a musical reunion at Expo Garden’s Opry House and talked and raffled posters, and I just thought it was time,” she said. The “music has been and continues to be one of life’s greatest gifts to me.”

Ask people from her work as a graphic artist and the consensus will be that she’s a sweet soul.

An effort that’s encyclopedic in scale, if not text, “Every Picture” is sure to result in reflection and appreciation about a special time and place.

In her introduction, Janie writes, “This is not intended to be a comprehensive study of local bands in Central Illinois in the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s and early ’80s. Rather, it is a window into that world as I experienced it.”

An old friend, former Illinois Entertainer publisher Ken Voss, adds, “Well, it’s a window to the world of rock and roll anyone who lived in that era experienced. And to modestly says it’s not comprehensive – it certainly is.”

Sometimes, treasures can be burdensome but Janie’s handled that load with her love of those times and people – and years of boxes, files and digital copies to spend months sharing it.

Local pal Marty Wombacher – a blogger (present here through his P.O.P./People of Peoria magazine) – says the booklets “tell, show and embody the music, the venues, the journalism and the bands and musicians that were the music scene in Peoria through the ’50s into the ’80s.”

Dedicated to Bob “Whale” Miller “Every Picture” is less of a scrapbook than a time travelogue, enormously helped by Royal Publishing, which generously  volunteered to produce it, plus contributions from characters including Art Karaganis, Tim Meidroth, Craig Moore, Lee Ranson, Mike Rea, Dan Sutton and Ron Volz.

Words alone are insufficient, so you should have this gem for the full visual tour: the Rock 106’s “Basement Tapes,” promoters such as Hank Skinner and Jay Goldberg, broadcast personalities such as WWCT’s Jim Reeves, WIRL’s Lee Ranson and Bill Houlihan (“Houli’s Hi-Fi Club” TV show), national acts that played here then or hometown musicians who became global hitmakers, topped by Dan Fogelberg and Gary Richrath – reminiscent of former colleague Nick Vlahos’ meme of Peoria as COTU (“Center of the Universe”), publications such as Sam Mahony’s Nearby Nite Life, the Prairie SUN, material appearing in the Observer or Penny Press, and venues from Pizzaworks/The Other Side to the Poison Apple, studios Golden Voice in Pekin and GDS in Morton, and 12 pages of reunion snapshots.

I won’t share every artist listed; Janie did, thank God. But here’s a sampling to spark memories:

Actual Proof (with Kris Lewis), Brillo & the Firebirds, Kenn Carlyle & the Cadillac Cowboys, Captain Strobe, Dave & the Dynamics, Dave Chastain, Dave Hoffman, Eargazm, Elvis Brothers, Flying D’Rita Brothers,

Gonn, Greg Williams, Gregg Clemons, Hurricane Ruth, Jets, Jetz, Jimmy Binkley, Kool Ray & the Polaroidz, Kriss Kross, Mackinaw, Monterey, New Watermelon Rhythm Band, Peter Parkhurst, Poker Flatts, Pork & the Havana Ducks,

Ready Steady Go, the Rockin’ R’s, Rockin’ Billy & the Rhythm Riot, Sally Weisenburg & Don Berbaum, Screams, Smokehouse, Somerville, Speechless, Squids, Streetwise, Timothy P & the Rural Route 3, Uptown, Vanessa David Band, the Vectors…

Beyond name-dropping, Janie’s deftly sequenced artists, creating a musical genealogy of the area – all assembled with warm respect. “Every Picture” may elicit some sentimental whimsy or melancholy glee, but it’s worth far more than $25 and your time.

“My hope is that this book brings back some good memories, introduces you to a few stories you may not have heard before, and helps preserve a small piece of Central Illinois music history,” Janie said.

Maybe she couldn’t carry a tune, but she definitely carried this off.

 

Proceeds from “Every Picture Tells A Story” will be donated to Harmonize Peoria, a non-profit helping to provide area youth with access to music education, instruments and chances to perform.

Priced at $25, the book is available at the Peoria Riverfront Museum store and Younger Than Yesterday records on North University Street, plus, to pick up or be delivered, order from Harmonize Peoria:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/413556385664460/posts/2935681893451884/

Social Security needs reforms to deal with insolvency, say advocates, labor

Americans rely on Social Security; some 62 million U.S. citizens received retirement and survivors benefit at the end of 2025; 8 million Americans received disability benefits. But that’s at risk, and Congress faces a new deadline for overhauling Social Security before benefit cuts may set in for millions of Americans.

Social Security’s annual trustees report, released in June, projects that the program’s trust fund dedicated to paying benefits for retirees, their spouses and children, plus survivors of deceased workers may run out in 2032 — months earlier than previously projected. At that time, just 78% of benefits would be payable, meaning an average benefit cut of $500 per month.

The looming shortfall stems from population changes: more Baby Boomer retiring and a lower birth rate to replace them in the labor force. Also, Republicans’ Big Beautiful Bill had a temporary deduction for seniors that’s expected to deplete the fund faster, according to Richard Johnson, AARP’s senior vice president of financial security. The Congressional Budget Office reports that the BBB will cost Social Security $170 billion over a decade.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) in June suggested that he’d release a plan to address ballooning entitlement spending.

“The reason we are in trouble is because over 74% of federal spending is on autopilot, mandatory spending,” Johnson told a Louisiana radio station. “That’s your entitlement programs like Medicare, Medicaid and then things like Social Security. They have to be adjusted and fixed.”

(Using the word “entitlement” has been misused. An entitlement is not an undeserved gift; it’s something that’s earned, like veterans’ benefits or interest on a bank account. It’s a transaction.)

Trump’s handpicked Social Security Commissioner, Frank Bisignano, applauded the Big Beautiful Bill as a reaffirmation of Trump’s “promise to protect Social Security.”

Among a range of misinformation about what the new law does is that the law does not protect Social Security. It will actually “hasten Social Security insolvency by a year,” according to Kathleen Romig, director of Social Security at the progressive Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

The conservative Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) agreed, estimating that the GOP package will accelerate the depletion of Social Security and Medicare’s trust funds.

Americans want Social Security reform – improvements, not change alone. Research from the nonprofit, nonpartisan National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS) found that Americans want action now on a long-term funding solution for Social Security. Eighty-seven percent say Congress should act now rather than waiting, and the sentiment holds across gender, age and party affiliation.

NIRS’ “Americans’ Views of Social Security” also found that 87% of Americans agree that Social Security should remain a priority for the nation regardless of budget deficits.

“This crisis exists for two reasons: The rich don’t pay their fair share. And most Republicans – many of them wealthy themselves – look the other way,” said United Steelworkers President Roxanne D. Brown.

“Social Security taxes only the first $184,500 of a person’s income, meaning millionaires and billionaires pay the same into the program as people who work for a living. However, because the rich rake in so much, and at so fast a clip, they finish paying their taxes within hours, weeks or months while most Americans contribute with every paycheck all year long,” she continued. “Removing the so-called cap on Social Security taxes is crucial to addressing the shortfall and preserving benefits for the long term.

“It’s the fix that the USW, other unions and our pro-worker allies continue to demand,” she added. “We fight for Social Security – along with pensions, Medicare and other retiree health care – because workers deserve secure retirements after decades of doing the hard, dangerous jobs that keep this country running. Republicans ignore the obvious remedy of scrapping the cap and instead talk about cutting benefits or raising the retirement age.”

Since 2014, Congressman John Larson (D-Conn.) has repeatedly tried to have Social Security lift its FICA earnings cap. This year, Social Security taxes are deducted at a rate of 6.2% from employees’ first dollar of gross earnings – BUT, as Brown said, only up to $184.500. However, Larson’s measure has been defeated several times, most recently on May 14, 2025, when the House Ways and Means Committee rejected it. The committee members include U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Peoria), who also voted for the Big Beautiful Bill.

 

SIMILAR SUGGESTIONS & OTHER PROPOSALS

* CBS News business analyst Jill Schlesinger says,: “Raise the payroll tax cap: Social Security taxes only apply to income up to $184.500 in 2026. If you make more than that, you stop paying Social Security taxes on the excess. Lifting this cap could solve a big chunk of the problem.”

* Former Social Security Administration Commissioner Martin O’Malley say that requiring higher-income Americans to pay more into Social Security is the solution to the program’s looming shortfall.

* Republican Senator Bernie Moreno (Ohio) and Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) co-authored  commentary calling for Congress to eliminate that Social Security payroll tax cap for high earners.

* Elsewhere, the Washington Post editorialized another option: reduce benefits to the well-to-do. “This year, the Social Security benefits formula gives the very highest-income couples who retire at age 67 over $100,000. [That’s] about one-third of benefits to [all] retirees. There’s no reason that the largest federal spending program should be sending six figures in annual benefits to rich people.”

* Another reform proposal has sparked backlash from AARP. The bipartisan Protecting Retirement Opportunities and Maintaining Income Security for Everyone (PROMISE) Act, aims to break the congressional deadlock on overhauling Social Security. It would have the Social Security Advisory Board –

 an independent, bipartisan advisory committee – send a base bill to Congress seeking to ensure the Social Security trust funds are funded for at least 50 years. It’s meant to create a “procedure to initiate Congressional action on Social Security,” according to a July 14 announcement by Senate sponsors Dick Durbin, the Democratic Whip from Illinois, and Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana.

But despite its intention to head off inaction, AARP in a July 21 letter to Sens. Durbin and Cassidy said the fast-track process could sacrifice openness, deliberation and accountability.

“Your legislation would require an unelected, four-member Advisory Board to put together a 50-year solvency plan in just over a month, with little time for deliberation and limited public input,” AARP Chief Advocacy and Engagement Officer Nancy LeaMond wrote. “If they are unsuccessful, any two members of Congress could force votes on their plans in just a few weeks. Members would not be able to amend other Members’ plans once they are filed. The bill would then set up fast-tracked floor debates in the lame-duck session of Congress, just after the November elections, when departing Members are completely unaccountable to voters.”

(Both Durbin’s and Cassidy’s terms will be up in January, when both will leave office.)

 “We strongly object to fast-tracking Social Security changes through Congress, as your bill would do.”

Another AARP voice, its CEO, Myechia Minter-Jordan, added, “This should be a wake-up call: Congress needs to act. Americans have worked hard and paid into Social Security their entire lives, and they deserve to count on it when they retire. No family should see any cuts to what they’ve earned in Social Security.”

Celebrate Labor Day with an in-house union 'film fest'

As Labor Day approaches, one way to celebrate the run-up to (or recovery from) parades might be an in-house “film fest” with a movie or two depicting unions. There ARE good motion pictures, entertaining efforts, that show labor’s struggles, often in a good light.

In “Through Jaundiced Eyes,” a book about how media can depict labor, William Puette writes that media’s image of labor “has been both unrepresentative and virulently negative ... [showing labor to be] by nature violent and mired in corruption.”

More Americans see themselves as working class (47%) than middle class (41%), according to the General Social Survey, so a huge audience is ignored by timid studios.

In fact, when Warners released the Depression-era “Black Fury,” the company released a note: “ ‘Black Fury’ is not a propaganda picture; it offers no solution to labor problems, but presents human beings in a human story.” Nevertheless, it was banned in some states, including Illinois.

Here are 10 excellent films available on video or streaming:

“Black Fury” (1935). This pet project of star Paul Muni was based on a real incident in coal country. Muni plays a friendly miner who’s betrayed, by a woman and strikebreakers. Racketeers seek to control the miners’ union, and Muni’s character finds himself at the center of controversy. Directed by Michael Curtiz (“Casablanca”), it co-stars Ward Bond and Barton MacLane.

“Blue Collar” (1978). Peoria native Richard Pryor co-stars with Harvey Keitel and Yaphet Kotto in a tale about assembly-line culture that can exhaust workers who feel trapped between Big Business and Big Labor. Set in a Detroit-area factory, three co-worker friends find themselves involved in mischief that turns deadly when they try to steal from the union and discover what looks like corruption.

“Bread and Roses” (2000). Ken Loach directed this drama about a group of immigrant janitors who demand their right to organize. The cast is superb, with Adrien Brody as an organizer. Pointedly pro-worker, the film also concedes flaws in everyone.

“Cesar Chavez” (2014). Michael Pena stars in this biopic of the legendary leader of the Farm Workers union, an inspiring figure also active in civil rights and the church. Rosario Dawson and John Malkovich are featured.

“Hoffa” (1992). Starring Jack Nicholson in the title role, this is compelling. However, working people appear just a few times: early in Teamsters history (when workers were weak) and in a mob scene (where strikers confront scabs). Nevertheless, Hoffa, who vanished in 1975, is shown organizing, leading strikes and improving lives, but also making deals with organized crime. Its superb cast includes Armand Assante, John C. Reilly and Danny DeVito, who also directed.

“The Killing Floor” (1984). Produced for PBS, this award-wining drama is a grim glimpse of early 20th century meatpacking and racial strife in Chicago. Damiene Leake stars as a Southern sharecropper who moves north for work. Hired at the stockyards, he finds organizers for a union of African Americans, immigrants and locals, all trying to bargain with powerful packinghouses. Moses Gunn, Alfre Woodard, Dennis Farina and  John Mahoney are featured.

“Matewan” (1987). Filmmaker John Sayles’ vivid account of West Virginia coal miners in the 1920s focuses on what’s remembered as the Alamo of coal-field wars. Chris Cooper stars as a union man organizing miners and overcoming racial divisions. The film is narrated by an adult version of an adolescent miner, preacher and union man who recalls, at film’s end, that “it’s just one big union, the whole world over. That’s what I preached. That was my religion.” James Earl Jones, David Strathairn and Mary McDonnell co-star.

“Norma Rae” (1979). Sally Field won an Oscar for her portrayal of the title role in Martin Ritt’s movie about a working wife and mother who rises to the challenges of organizing her workplace. A plain-spoken, 31-year-old Southern textile worker, Norma Rae shows little interest in the arrival of a union organizer (Ron Liebman) then slowly changes, realizing her priorities and risking her job, marriage and family to do what’s right. Beau Bridges and Pat Hingle co-star.

“Silkwood” (1983). Likeable Karen Silkwood (Meryl Streep) joins union organizers in improving working conditions in this biography directed by Mike Nichols. The story traces most of the circumstances that led to the still-unsolved death of the Kerr-McGee nuclear plant worker – en route to deliver incriminating documents to a reporter. It co-stars Kurt Russell, Cher and Craig T. Nelson.

“10,000 Black Men Named George” (2002). This made-for-cable film stars Andre Braugher as Asa Philip Randolph, the organizer who led the Pullman sleeping-car porters union for decades before becoming an AFL-CIO and civil rights leader. Directed by Robert Townshend, the picture co-stars Mario Van Peebles, Brock Peters and Charles S. Dutton. Often overlooked, the 90-minute film is splendid.

PICTURED: Filmed by acclaimed cinematographer Haskell Wexler, filmmaker John Sayles’ “Matewan” is based on the 1920 West Virginia Mine War, here focusing on a rural coal town, where the bosses conspire to sow disunity among workers by pitting newly arrived Black migrants and Italian immigrants against the mineworkers and community.