Join community forum Sunday on imposed austerity in Illinois

Join a community meeting to "Fight Imposed Austerity in Illinois" from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, July 19, in Room 103 of the Prisco Community Center, 150 W. Illinois Ave. in Aurora.

Northern Illinois Jobs with Justice, Chicago Jobs with Justice, The Alliance for Community Services, The Alliance for Retired Americans, Cook County College Teachers Association, United Auto Workers Region 4, and other groups and organizations will meet to organize resistance to attempts by the governor to impose an austerity economy on the people of Illinois.

The speakers will include:

• Tony Garcia of UAW Region 4 who will give a brief summary of what is happening in Springfield regarding the budget, the "turnaround agenda."

• Fran Tobin of the Alliance for Community Services who will address the pain and suffering caused by the budget cuts already imposed by the governor.

• Sophia Zaman, executive director of Raise the Floor Alliance, who will speak about the proposed attack on the state's workers' compensation system and exactly who will be most hurt by that and how.

• Ron Baiman, Ph.D., professor of economics in the Department of Business at Benedictine University in Lisle, who will put the current budget impasse into an economic perspective. He also will present the case for a financial transaction tax in Illinois.

• Sean Noonan of the Cook County Community College Teachers Association who will talk about the need for public sector and private sector workers to stick together and support each other in this ongoing battle.

Vincent Gaddis, professor of history at Benedictine University, will moderate the panel.

A question-and-answer and public discussion will follow the panel.

The meeting is free and open to all.

Follow Northern Illinois Jobs With Justice at www.facebook.com/NIJWJ.