Labor Beat needs money now
Save Labor Beat. That's the slogan for this month. Most Substance readers know Labor Beat by the video links that regularly assist Substance articles in bringing out the complete story on Chicago events. Now Labor Beat needs help to survive. And looking at what and who we are up against, the amount we need is not that much. But supporters can send a check today -- or go on line to make a donation. Checks can be mailed:
Labor Beat,
37 S. Ashland, Chicago,
IL 60607.
Make note on check "Donation".
Labor Beat must raise $3,000 for 2014. $3,000 is the amount we need to meet our annual rent. Maintaining our office, located in the "union row" neighborhood of the near West Side, is critical for what we do. Every Substance reader can help a little, since the amount is not that large, but crucial to our survival. Not only future coverage, but a lot of history needs to be preserved.
Labor Beat's editing station and some of the shelves of archived labor history footage going back to the 80s. Photo: Labor Beat
• Our location puts us in the middle of where a lot of labor news develops, from Teamster City and Chicago Jobs with Justice down the street to Union Park (starting point for many marches) up the street, to the U.E.'s main meeting hall in our own building.
• Our office is crucial for physically maintaining our media archives--historic footage dating back to the 80s that lends depth to our reporting on current labor news.
Our central location gives our co-producers -– north and south-siders — an accessible meeting/working space, and a convenient destination for us to invite labor activists to be interviewed. The office is only 5 minutes away from CAN-TV and its cablecasting head-end, where we must submit our regular shows. This space provides the main national archive facility for our Labor Beat collection of shows, now numbering 688, going back to 1986. This archive is irreplaceable and represents video reporting on local, regional, national and international labor history that is unrivaled. (Download Labor TV in Chicago: A Brief History at http://laborbeat.org/ChiLaborTVhist.pdf )
Labor Beat is the longest-running cable-tv labor series in the U.S. (since 1986). It is a valuable, unique, and endangered resource in the union struggle, creating a rare niche in cable television for edited pro-working class features and news with good production values. We also regularly post our segments on our Web site (www.laborbeat.org ).
Perhaps we have in the past covered your local's struggle or a progressive campaign that you have been involved in. Can you get personally involved, or get your union involved, in helping us, by simply donating your time and/or resources in helping us reach people with this appeal? We can send someone to talk to your union's executive board to explain our fund appeal.
FOUR DONATION OPTIONS AND COMPLIMENTARY PREMIUMS
1. $20
Donations of any amount will help!
2. $100
Your choice of a Labor Beat DVD, plus our stylish Labor Beat button.
3. $500
We will organize a discussion meeting with your union local or organization about corporate media and labor-oriented media.* We will tutor members of your local who wish to learn how to produce labor videos with their media devices and simple editing software.*
You or your local picks any 10 Labor Beat DVD.
*Travel expenses will be added if outside the greater Chicago area.
4. $1,000
We will produce a short YouTube news segment reporting on an issue affecting your local or organization.* Your union/organization will be listed in our closing credits as a contributor of Labor Beat.
PLUS all the premiums listed above for the $500 donation.
*Travel expenses will be added if outside the greater Chicago area.
TO DONATE to Labor Beat (Committee for Labor Access):
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=2F96NDFQRSF3G Your donation is tax-deductible. Our tax ID # is: 36-336-8030.
You can also mail a check to: Labor Beat, 37 S. Ashland, Chicago, IL 60607. Make note on check "Donation". For questions about your donation, please email us at: mail@laborbeat.org or phone us at: 773-392-0908.
Labor Beat is a CAN TV Community Partner, and member of the Evanston Community Media Center. Labor Beat is a non-profit 501(c)(3) member of IBEW 1220. Views are those of the producer Labor Beat. On Chicago CAN TV Channel 19, Thursdays 9:30 pm; Fridays 4:30 pm. Labor Beat has regular cable slots in Chicago, Evanston, Rockford, Urbana, IL; Philadelphia, PA; Princeton, NJ; and Rochester, NY.
