Labor advocates hosted a hearing in Chicago today and highlighted the plight of part-time workers in retail and other service industries,
while underscoring the need for federal legislation that would extend
protections, including health care, family and medical leave and
pensions, to part-time employees.
The Part-Time Worker Bill of Rights Act of 2013 (HR 675),
sponsored by U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D, IL-9), aims to do just that
by building upon the Affordable Care Act and ensuring that part-time
employees who work less than 30 hours a week have access to important
workplace benefits.
As it stands, many of the federally mandated
work-related benefits apply only to full-time workers, but that set up no longer meets the needs of the nation's workforce, Schakowsky said at the hearing, which was held at the Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership.
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The ultra conservative billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch
reportedly have their 
On the first day of spring break, a group of approximately 20 high
school students marched to City Hall to deliver a letter to Mayor Rahm
Emanuel today, announcing their opposition to last week’s announcement
from Chicago Public Schools (CPS) that 54 schools will be closed and
another six are slated for turnaround.
Some McDonald’s student guestworkers held a teach-in at the chain’s flagship store today in River North to show their solidarity
for organizing Chicago fast-food workers and to expose the threats of
deportation and severe exploitation they say they have faced at the hands of the company.
Citing a lack of economic opportunities as the driving force behind
the high rate of gun violence in Chicago over the last several
years, Illinois 2nd Congressional District candidate Robin
Kelly stood alongside union security officers Saturday to call on the
city’s downtown building owners to provide fairer compensation for their
emergency “first responders.”
A group of protesters pushed back against the Chicago Public Schools' 
The same week 
With hopes of giving a boost to Illinois’ struggling economy, Gov.
Pat Quinn rolled out a new initiative this week focused on investing in
the arts and strengthening the state’s cultural offerings.
About 80 students at Ames Middle School in Logan Square participated
in a student-led peace assembly yesterday afternoon in order to
promote ways to diffuse violence and empathize with others who may have
stressors in their lives that affect how they behave.