Being an English major in college was going to come in handy someday. Eventually. 

Three weeks ago, in issuing a sweeping injunction on the use of force by immigration agents in Operation Midway Blitz, U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis did something you rarely hear in even the most vaunted courtrooms in this country: She read a poem. In its entirety. 

Carl Sandburg’s 1914 poem “Chicago” is a powerful, sweeping description of the city at the turn of the 20th century. Chicago’s oft-cited nickname, the “City of the Big Shoulders,” comes from it. 

But it’s more than that. 

Some 110 years later, Sandburg’s words are illustrative of the moxie this place has always had but only recently visibly reclaimed. 

“Come and show me another city with lifted head singing so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning,” Sandburg wrote. “Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on job, here is a tall bold slugger …/ Bareheaded,/ Shoveling,/ Wrecking,/ Planning,/ Building, breaking, rebuilding.”

An original copy of the Poetry magazine from 1914 featuring the poem “Chicago” by Carl Sandburg, at the Poetry Foundation in Chicago in 2014. (Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune)

Building. Breaking. Rebuilding. It’s not lost on me that Ellis articulated the legacy of the city in the same halls that only a year before saw her colleagues weigh the fates of some of the city’s power players, the old order. It’s a fitting nod to the sentiment that despite all of our recent trouble, we remain proud to be the scrappy, inimitable city that we are. 

This renewed energy across Chicago’s gridded streets emerged as coordinated defiance of federal immigration agents who arrived in September. That energy has continued all fall — with the Bears and Cubs seemingly propelled, to some degree, by this sense of fight.

As I ran the Chicago Marathon, I noticed how many Mexican and Ecuadorian flags lined the route and how supporters in Pilsen and Chinatown were undeterred from turning out to cheer on loved ones — despite the increase in federal immigration enforcement efforts in the city.

Consider also the ingenuity and generosity shown by local food pantries, getting groceries to those who are homebound out of fear. Every day, Franciscan Sisters Stephanie Baliga and Kate O’Leary tell me, presents a logistical challenge at Mission of Our Lady of the Angels in West Humboldt Park — thanks to the double whammy of federal agents’ presence and food assistance program funding cuts and delays. And yet, every day, they remain determined to serve, handing out more than 400 allotments of groceries each week.

As I walked back from a recent lunch, my friend’s 4-year-old quietly but proudly showed me she knew how to blow a whistle — a nod to the Lincoln Park mom brigade, which texts warnings if federal agents are seen near local schools.

The National Museum of Mexican Art had a line around the block on Nov. 1 on Día de los Muertos, or “Day of the Dead,” which my 7-year-old and I discovered when we were looking to fill a Saturday afternoon. And Pilsen’s Panaderia Nuevo Leon could barely fit its customers inside that same afternoon when we made a stop for a treat. 

Well versed in the city’s Irish Catholic culture, I have loved taking part in Chicago’s proud expression of its Irishness — attending Old St. Pat’s annual Chicago Celtic Mass and events held by the Irish Fellowship Club and Celtic Legal Society and gossiping about who’s been selected as annual parade grand marshal and queen of St. Patrick’s Court. 

Part of that delight, I’ve come to realize, comes from a clear feeling of belonging, a knowledge that you have friends and neighbors who have your back. 

But we’d be remiss to think we are just an Irish town anymore. And for those who have a problem with that, we sneer right back, just as Sandburg noted.  

The challenges Chicagoans have endured these last weeks I wouldn’t wish on anyone. But that time has made clear that as a city, we know how to embrace the notion that we fight for our own. Together.

Kerry Lester Kasper is a Chicago-based writer.

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/26/opinion-chicago-operation-midway-blitz-carl-sandburg-poem/ 

Editor’s note: In the spirit of Thanksgiving, our readers wrote to us to share what they’re thankful for. Here is another selection of those letters. To view more letters, click here. We will publish the remainder on Thursday.

Glory of the dawn

I’m thankful for getting to see a golden-morning sunrise after enduring a period of gloomy gray days. I’m thankful that I get to enjoy my trusting tabby sleeping on my legs while I relax on the couch after a long workday. I’m thankful for the relationship I have with my teenage son and that he still enjoys spending time with me.

I’m thankful for my playful husband and the way we laugh both at each other and ourselves. I’m thankful that I got to see many members of my family this year and that even though we might not agree on certain matters, we can talk about it respectfully. I’m thankful for my friends near and far and the memories we’ve made.

I’m thankful for the people I get to work alongside and how supportive we are of each other even during times of uncertainty. I’m thankful for my local baristas and how they help get my day off to a positive start.

As I write this and think about it, the theme that rises to the top is I’m thankful for my relationships. They give my life meaning, purpose, joy and wisdom. That’s a whole lot to be thankful for!

— Tanya Lopez, Glen Ellyn

Gratitude in America

I am grateful for the innate innocence of children who make me smile with their questions about what it feels like to be at least 100 years old (although I am only 74!), while they softly rub my crinkly hand to bring us closer together.

I am grateful for the sound of the birds’ fluttering wings and the wetness of fall leaves as I briskly walk my two beloved pups, sucking in the crisp air as deeply as I can.

I am grateful for the love of all my kids, who put family first on Sunday nights as we share a laughter-filled dinner, a four-generation tradition.

And I am thankful to live in America, because even with all its messiness and chaos, it remains a place where, when we practice loving kindness toward all humans, we can live in relative peace and freedom, as our Founding Fathers envisioned for millions of people not even born when they put their feather pens to paper 238 years ago.

— Carole Klein-Alexander, Riverwoods

Be kind and careful

As we near the end of the first year of this period of fear, I am comforted by acts of kindness done for me by a complete stranger, as undeserving as I was.

Nearly three years ago, I hit a woman as I turned left and she walked into an intersection. I did not see her until she went over the hood of my car. My guess is the sun was in my eyes, but I should have stopped or at least inched along until I was sure no one was there. Right away, the injured woman was kind to me, letting me know she knew it wasn’t on purpose.

She was again kind to me when we met in court two months later, and I apologized. It was the first day the woman walked without a cane or walker. Even though she was crying, the woman and her husband told me that they knew this accident was unintentional.

And when the case settled, the injured woman sent me a beautiful note: “I want to thank you for staying with me after the accident. I know it was a split-second mistake. There are many lessons for us throughout our lives. This came with many lessons of growth, strength, acts of kindness and new tests. I hope you are able to move beyond this and find peace, happiness and joy.”

I sent the woman a card thanking her for her understanding and for the great example she had set for me.

Let’s all make sure we make the needed adjustments, such as slowing down or stopping when the sun or other obstacles keep us from seeing clearly. And let’s be aware that the sun may be in the other person’s eyes.

Kindness and understanding, even to complete strangers, and even when we’re hurting, may help us cope with these terribly stressful times.

— Kevin Coughlin, Evanston

My mother’s example

Recently driving back from northern Wisconsin after a weekend celebrating my mother’s 108th birthday, I had much to reflect upon. My mother was born on the ninth of November in 1917. And she knows it. Talk about being thankful; the list seems unimaginable.

Born before women had the right to vote, she once shared with me how proud she was to have voted for all women on her ballot. I don’t believe she ever missed an opportunity to cast her vote. When she talks of some of her exploits working in D.C., Chicago and Detroit during the war, she was grateful for the kindness and care of the Pullman porters who looked after the petite 4-foot-11 young woman traveling alone. She shared how, when visiting her cousin in New York in 1942, she had a chance to see and hear a “guy with a lousy voice,” Irving Berlin, sing “Oh! How I Hate To Get Up In The Morning” onstage.

My mother started the “Sick Loan Cupboard” in her northern Wisconsin hometown to gather and redistribute no-longer-needed durable medical equipment — at no charge to the recipients.

However, the thing I, as her only child, am most thankful for is the role model she is for me and for all those fortunate to cross her path. She can still charm with her smile and deliver a “cut to the chase” quip. She has achieved what many have strived for, as she keeps her head where her feet are. She doesn’t regret the past nor does she fear the future.

She and I are thankful for the blessing that is today.

— Barry Tusin, Wheaton

Living fully human

To give thanks can occasionally be daunting. A joyful, thankful heart is mine in times of plenty, good health and merry celebration. Yet, how do I rally when the tide has turned? How can I be thankful when a loved one falls ill, an unexpected expense makes an appearance or attendance at a funeral is all-important?

These are the times that prod me to dig deep, to look beyond the circumstance. Is there a lesson to be learned? Have I truly appreciated the gift of family and friends? Am I being called to pause, breathe and ponder in silence? The choice is mine. I can give thanks or bemoan the experience.

To be thankful at all times is a true expression of living fully human.

— Mary Jo Ingolia, Schaumburg

To all the fighters

I am thankful that cancer is no longer a mandatory death sentence. One of my younger brothers, Rick, is battling cancer for the second time in his life. Things look good, and if all goes well, he’ll be done with treatment by the end of 2025. I truly don’t know what our families would do without him! In addition, my friends Jennifer, Diane and Dan are living their lives to their fullest as they treat their incurable cancers into remission or stabilization.

Finally, in the most cruel type of cancer (childhood cancer), I want to give a huge shout-out all the way to Boston to “Johnny Strong” and the entire Morris family. What an inspirational boy and family!

This holiday season, may all who are financially able, give to others in need and support cancer research as much as possible. We all know and love many with this horrible disease in all its forms. Love, peace and health to all the fighters out there!

— Terri Lipsitz, Highland Park

My faith and family

My Top 10 Thankful List:

I am thankful for my faith in God and Mother Mary, for providing the rest of my list and always listening to my prayers.
I am forever thankful for my husband of almost 40 years and his love for me and our family.
I am thankful for being a “boy” mom and grammy.
I am thankful for my great daughters-in-law who love our sons as much as we do!
I am thankful for my grandsons P&P and their unconditional love.
I am thankful my parents, even though they are gone; their many life lessons live on.
I am thankful for my five older siblings to learn and grow from.
I am thankful for my dear friends and their unwavering support in good times and bad.
I am thankful for the (too many to count) students who touched my life while I was teaching and gave me a reason to smile each day! I am also thankful for the students I continue to tutor and the joy they bring in retirement.
I am thankful for just celebrating another birthday, as every day really is a gift.

— Marilyn Taaffe-Paez, Frankfort

My son’s well-being

I am thankful this year our only son is thriving in his first year of college. It was a leap of faith, dropping him off 1,750 miles away at a small college in the northwest part of the country.

By all accounts, he is doing well. His midterm grades were good, and he’s making friends and is doing well on a Division 1 sports team. We FaceTime with him once a week, and he seems happy. We ask him to tell us not just the good stuff but also anything bad. So far, nothing bad. While we take that with a grain of salt, it does seem like he is doing well, and that makes me feel good.

Not only good about him, but I feel maybe some of the parenting we did paid off.

— Andy Olcott, Glenview

What my parents taught

I’m 85 years old, past the racetrack’s last turn and charging for the finish line. I’m no different from most people in that position who reflect on their lives’ joys and sorrows, their accomplishments and failures, their beloveds and their “I can take them or leave thems.”

As I’ve done so, it became clear that I have a great many things to be grateful for — a loving wife, daughter, and family and two wonderful, exciting careers that brought satisfaction and security. The list could go on.

But when it comes down to it, what I’m most grateful for is having the great fortune to have Martin and Theresa Foys as my parents. The children of immigrants, coming of age in the Great Depression, they didn’t have three full years of high school between them, yet working several jobs, they managed to raise four children, seeing to it that we were well educated (in my instance, well beyond my intelligence) and equipped with values and manners that would serve us well.

When it comes down to it, after considerable introspection, I’ve concluded that everything important that I learned about life was taught by Mom and Dad.

— Bob Foys, Chicago

A habitat to many

This Thanksgiving, I’m grateful that more monarch butterflies and rusty patched bumble bees visited my yard than ever. Over the years, I’ve planted milkweed, blazing star and other pollinator-friendly plants. Goldfinches sit on the echinacea seed pods, munching away at the seeds.

Now, my yard is a changed habitat and a small contribution to the natural world. I’m grateful.

— Linda Morton, Harvard

To the quietly helpful

In our current world of noise, noise, noise, this Thanksgiving season I am most thankful for all the folks who quietly go through their days helping others around them.

All the people who choose to help others. And, at the same time, who don’t block a sidewalk and do damage to public and private property. Who don’t need to have a social media moment to prove to the world what they are doing to lend a voice or a hand to another human being. Who don’t step on others’ right to go about their day.

I am so thankful for the people in our world who quietly work behind the scenes, doing the in-the-trenches work that others do not see or know is being done. All the folks who help out quietly, reaching out to those less fortunate, who do it strictly out of kindness and not for any attention.

To all those who help out quietly, we thank you, and we join you in your acts of kindness.

— Carol Hausmann, Tinley Park

The people in my life

I’m most thankful for my family, friends and good neighbors, that I can take care of myself and that recently I tamed my chocolate habit.

— Alice Marcus Solovy, Highland Park

Music and memories

In 2006, I was invited to a one-time event to sing Johnny Cash with a cast of locals. The one-time event has turned into close to 20 years of making music and memories locally, across the U.S. and several times in Ireland, as the Ken Dix Band, KDB for short.

I feel like Joe, Ken, Pat, Tim, Peter, Mike, John and Lorelei are more than friends. They are family. The lesson? When strange opportunities present themselves, say yes, as you never know where the decision will take you.

Thanks, KDB! Rock on!

— Todd Nuelle, Mount Prospect

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/26/letters-112625-thankful-kindness/ 

Thanksgiving is here, and I can’t cook.

I can broil a fish filet and steam a veggie, but that’s about it. If you want anything else edible, don’t let me anywhere near a stove. Especially the one that has occupied my kitchen for 35 years. It’s old. Ancient. Managing that relic for a large dinner requires a finesse I will never — and don’t care to — possess. 

I have heard the tales and gaped at the lavish photos of Thanksgiving dinner table scenes. I know of the cooking champions who start preparing the cakes, pies and sides weeks out, who delight in making all manner of dishes that I have never heard of. 

I have seen the images of exhausted hosts (always women) toiling over a hot stove to lay out lavish spreads. I have marveled at their talents and drive.

That won’t be me, as I can’t cook.   

As a person who loves to host parties, that would not be something to be thankful for, especially on this grand holiday of feasting. Yet I am thankful this season, especially because, for more than two decades, I have been blessed with family and friends who can cook. So, every Thanksgiving my husband and I open our doors, and the goodies flow in. 

We are saved by the great Thanksgiving Day Potluck Extravaganza Extraordinaire.

If you go by a survey by the Pew Research Center, the holiday is a big deal. Conducted in the run-up to the 2024 Thanksgiving celebration, it queried 9,609 adults across America about their plans. The survey found that 91% said they celebrate the holiday, across all demographic groups. Only 7% expected to have Thanksgiving dinner with more than 20 other people. About a quarter of those surveyed said they planned to dine with more than 10 others that year.

“Smaller get-togethers are more common: 26% of Americans plan to have dinner with six to 10 other people, 15% with three to five other people, and 4% with one to two other people,” according to the survey.  

Six people? At my abode, we are often bursting at the seams, packing in close to 30 celebrants into our three-bedroom apartment for Thanksgiving. 

This year, more of the same. It will be an assemblage of siblings, nieces, nephews, in-laws and friends of every type and stripe. We have known some for more than 40 years and one person I met just last week. 

The crowd is always diverse, United Nations style. We will welcome immigrants from India and Japan. There will be an expat couple visiting from Thailand. Others trek to our North Side apartment from Indiana, the south suburbs and beyond. 

We do it up right. Paper plates are verboten. It’s the only time I break out the sets of china and crystal, including my grandmother’s treasured turkey plates. 

They will be loaded with traditional dishes — turkey and gravy, ham, cranberry sauce, with a touch of eggnog. 

That’s just for starters. Our lovely guests have brought sushi, collard greens, hummus and baba ghanoush, and Thai satay. 

Before my mother left us in 2023, her specialty of creamily spiced macaroni and cheese was the crown jewel of our Thanksgiving fetes. Now our guests compete to meet her high standards.

Our feasts are a cultural journey that sparks conversation about the differences that bring us together. One debate I have been pushing over the years is the potato question: mashed versus sweet? In the African American Thanksgivings of my youth, sweet potatoes or candied yams were mandatory. Among my white friends, it was mashed potatoes doused in gravy. 

Pumpkin pie? Not. Sweet potato pie was the thing in our house. For the turkey, we called it dressing, not stuffing. Crumbly cornbread, not dinner rolls.

We have had it all. 

Even Mom’s favorite, chitterlings, the piggy innards that are a prized delicacy among many African Americans, have made appearances. Oink.

So, as the big day approached, I was thankful for potluck. Then, last week, a wrench was thrown. I have nearly 30 guests coming with food, but no way to heat up the action. 

Remember that relic in my kitchen? That ancient stove was on the verge of collapse and down to one working jet. So, after eons of my nagging, the hubby ran out and picked up a new stove. 

It’s a marvel in my eyes. Gleaming and fresh, with five powerful jets. 

A new stove for the lady who can’t cook. Happy Thanksgiving! 

Laura Washington is a political commentator and longtime Chicago journalist. Her columns appear in the Tribune each Wednesday. Write to her at LauraLauraWashington@gmail.com.

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/26/column-thanksgiving-cooking-potluck-washington/ 

Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Nov. 26, according to the Tribune’s archives.

Is an important event missing from this date? Email us.

The Chicago Bears have played 38 times on Thanksgiving. Here’s how they’ve fared in each game since 1920.

Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)

High temperature: 67 degrees (1990)
Low temperature: 2 degrees (1898)
Precipitation: 1.63 inches (1988)
Snowfall: 7.5 inches (1975)

On Nov. 22, 1925, less than 24 hours after his last game with the Fighting Illini, Harold “Red” Grange, second from right, signed a contract to play pro football with the Chicago Bears at the Morrison Hotel in Chicago. Surrounding Grange as he signed were Bears managers Edward C. Sternaman, from left, and George C. Halas. Grange’s agent Charles C. Pyle, is on the right. (Chicago Herald and Examiner photo)

1925: Just days after he abruptly left the University of Illinois to don the navy and orange of the Chicago Bears, three-time All-American Harold Edward “Red” Grange played in his first NFL game.

More than 36,000 fans packed Wrigley Field to see Grange, who signed with the Bears less than 24 hours after his last college game. It was then the largest crowd in professional football history. They came away disappointed as the Bears and Chicago Cardinals — the oldest rivalry in the NFL — tied 0-0.

Paddy Driscoll, later Grange’s teammate on the Bears, punted the ball away from Grange all game, drawing a chorus of boos, and Grange rushed for only 36 yards.

The Chicago Bears and Chicago Cardinals played to a 0-0 tie before more than 36,000 fans on Thanksgiving 1925, at Wrigley Field in Chicago. (Chicago Tribune)

“I decided if one of us was going to look bad, it wasn’t going to be me,” Driscoll told the Tribune’s David Condon 40 years later. “Punting to Grange is like grooving a pitch to Babe Ruth.”

After the game, Driscoll went to see his future wife, Mary, in the stands. He lamented fans were wrong to boo Grange for his uninspiring debut. “Don’t feel sorry for Grange,” Mary said. “It’s you they’re booing.”

The teams faced each other on Thanksgiving in 1926 — with the game resulting in another scoreless tie.

Though Red Grange didn’t score a touchdown during his Chicago Bears debut on Nov. 26, 1925, at Wrigley Field, he did make roughly $12,000 (or more than $216,000 in today’s dollars) for his efforts. (Chicago Tribune)

Grange sustained a knee injury in 1927 that greatly affected his speed. He sat out the next season and joined the vaudeville circuit but returned to George Halas’ team in 1929. He turned down an offer from Halas to become the team’s head coach after his last game in January 1935.

Grange owned a night club on Sheridan Road, became a sales manager of a bottling company, sold insurance and was a radio and TV sportscaster before he retired to Florida. Both he and Halas were inducted into the Professional Football Hall of Fame’s inaugural class in 1963. Grange died in 1991 at age 87.

A rare Red Grange Chicago Bears jersey from the 1930s sells for $548,100 at auction

Want more vintage Chicago?

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Have an idea for Vintage Chicago Tribune? Share it with Kori Rumore and Marianne Mather at krumore@chicagotribune.com and mmather@chicagotribune.com

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/26/chicago-history-november-26/ 

These Are The Largest Bodies Of Water In Our Solar System

Tyler Durden
Wed, 11/26/2025 – 05:45

https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/these-are-largest-bodies-water-our-solar-system 

Today is Wednesday, Nov. 26, the 330th day of 2025. There are 35 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Nov. 26, 1917, the National Hockey League was founded in Montreal, succeeding the National Hockey Association.

Also on this date:

In 1791, President George Washington held his first full cabinet meeting; in attendance were Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of War Henry Knox and Attorney General Edmund Randolph.

In 1864, English mathematician Charles Dodgson presented the illustrated manuscript “Alice’s Adventures Under Ground” to his friend Alice Pleasance Liddell, 12, a book later published under the pen name Lewis Carroll as “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.”

In 1941, U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull delivered a note to Japan’s ambassador to the United States, Kichisaburo Nomura, setting forth U.S. demands for “lasting and extensive peace throughout the Pacific area.” The same day, a Japanese naval task force of six aircraft carriers left the Kuril Islands, bound for Hawaii, days before the attack on Pearl Harbor.

In 1942, the film “Casablanca,” starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, premiered at the Hollywood Theater in New York City.

In 1973, President Richard Nixon’s personal secretary, Rose Mary Woods, told a federal court she’d accidentally caused part of the 18 1/2-minute erasure of a key Watergate tape. The gap was in a 1972 recording of a conversation between Nixon and his chief of staff.

In 1998, two trains collided in the northern town of Khanna, India, killing 210 people in one of that country’s deadliest rail disasters.

In 2000, Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris certified Republican George W. Bush the winner over Democrat Al Gore in the state’s presidential balloting by a 537-vote margin. The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately stopped recounts of the vote, and Bush won Florida’s 25 electoral votes and the presidential election.

In 2008, teams of heavily armed militants from the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba stormed luxury hotels, a popular restaurant and a crowded train station in Mumbai, India, leaving at least 175 people dead (including nine of the attackers) in a rampage spanning four days.

In 2011, a rocket carrying NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Related Articles

In 2019, a 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck Albania, killing at least 49 people, injuring some 2,000 others and leaving at least 4,000 homeless.

Today’s Birthdays: Impressionist Rich Little is 87. Football Hall of Famer Jan Stenerud is 83. Author Marilynne Robinson is 82. Bass guitarist John McVie (Fleetwood Mac) is 80. Football Hall of Famer Art Shell is 79. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., is 72. Football Hall of Famer Harry Carson is 72. NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett is 69. Country singer Linda Davis is 63. Actor-TV personality Garcelle Beauvais is 59. Actor Peter Facinelli is 52. DJ-music producer DJ Khaled is 50. Country musician Joe Nichols is 49. Pop singer Natasha Bedingfield is 44. Actor-singer-TV personality Rita Ora is 35.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/26/today-in-history-national-hockey-league-founded/ 

UK Schools Locked Down In Secret “Pegasus” Pandemic Drills

Tyler Durden
Wed, 11/26/2025 – 05:00

https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/uk-schools-locked-down-secret-pegasus-pandemic-drills 

Por RAJESH ROY

NUEVA DELHI (AP) — Una coalición de 10 importantes sindicatos indios organizó protestas a nivel nacional el miércoles contra la implementación de nuevas normas laborales aprobadas por el gobierno, afirmando que los cambios radicales son un “engaño fraudulento” contra los trabajadores.

En manifestaciones en varias partes del país, los sindicatos que representan a millones de trabajadores y agricultores acusaron al gobierno de impulsar la reforma a pesar de las preocupaciones generalizadas de que el nuevo marco erosiona la seguridad laboral, debilita la negociación colectiva y aumenta el control de los empleadores.

Es la primera acción laboral coordinada desde que las nomas entraron en vigor la semana pasada, subrayando las profundas tensiones entre los sindicatos y el gobierno sobre la dirección de las reformas económicas.

Mientras que los funcionarios indios dijeron que el nuevo marco modernizará leyes obsoletas, mejorará la eficiencia y ampliará las protecciones sociales, los sindicatos argumentaron que les despojaría de salvaguardas esenciales y favorecería a los empleadores en un momento de creciente inseguridad laboral.

“Los derechos de los trabajadores están siendo aplastados, y el gobierno justifica la medida con una avalancha de mentiras de que los códigos beneficiarán a los trabajadores”, afirmó Tapan Sen, secretario general del Centro de Sindicatos de la India, alineado con el partido comunista y un sindicato clave en el grupo que convocó la huelga, afirmó.

Los cuatro códigos —que cubren salarios, relaciones industriales, seguridad social y seguridad laboral— reemplazan 29 leyes laborales que anteriormente regulaban la contratación, los beneficios y los estándares laborales en los sectores formal e informal de la India.

Cuando presentó las normas, el gobierno dijo que la estructura consolidada simplifica el cumplimiento, reduce la fragmentación y brinda a los trabajadores mejor acceso a la seguridad social, contribuciones al fondo de previsión y normas de seguridad.

Los códigos hacen obligatorio para los empleadores emitir cartas de nombramiento y fijan un plazo para el pago de salarios. También permiten que las mujeres trabajen turnos nocturnos con arreglos de seguridad por parte de los empleadores.

Los beneficios de seguridad social se han extendido al sector irregular y a los trabajadores de plataformas digitales. Los empleados a término fijo recibirán los mismos beneficios que los trabajadores permanentes, incluidas licencias, prestaciones por maternidad y pagos adicionales después de completar un año de servicio.

Sin embargo, los sindicatos argumentan que la implementación ha revelado que las reformas están profundamente inclinadas a favor de los empleadores. Señalan disposiciones que permiten despidos fáciles para empresas más grandes, amplían el empleo a término fijo y endurecen las condiciones para formar sindicatos o convocar huelgas.

“Es un intento de devolver a los trabajadores a la era colonial donde ni siquiera pueden alzar la voz ni luchar para formar o legalizar un sindicato”, dijo Amarjeet Kaur, secretaria general del Congreso de Sindicatos de Toda la India, otro sindicato prominente que participa en la huelga.

El gobierno no ha comentado formalmente sobre la huelga. Normalmente desestima las afirmaciones hechas por los sindicatos.

Nueva Delhi ha defendido los códigos como algo muy esperado y afirma que un marco laboral moderno es esencial para atraer inversiones y aumentar los empleos formales. Espera que las empresas se sientan incentivadas a expandir sus operaciones, creando más empleos seguros con el tiempo.

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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/26/sindicatos-en-india-celebran-protestas-nacionales-contra-las-nuevas-normas-laborales/