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Wages
PI Original
by Ellyn Fortino
5:03pm
Tue Apr 9

Equal Pay Advocates, Lawmakers Rally To Close The Gender Wage Gap (VIDEO)

Equal pay advocates gathered at the Daley Center today and said it’s time to end the gender wage gap, which could be closed in part by passage of the federal Paycheck Fairness Act. Progress Illinois was there for the rally.

Quick Hit
by Ashlee Rezin
4:39pm
Mon Apr 8

Schneider Launches Initiative To Support Small Businesses

Freshman lawmaker U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider (D, IL-10) met with constituents in Gurnee today in an effort to better understand the needs of small business owners in his district.

“If I’m going to represent the district, I have to understand what makes up the district” said Schneider, who has visited 17 small businesses since taking office earlier this year.

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Quick Hit
by Ashlee Rezin
2:58pm
Fri Apr 5

Security Officers Rally For Higher Wages On First Day Of Contract Negotiations (VIDEO)

Carrying signs that read “Good Jobs, Safe Chicago” and chanting about higher wages, security officers represented by the SEIU* Local 1 rallied at the Thompson Center in downtown Chicago Thursday for a pay increase. 

Thursday was the first day of bargaining with the Building and Owners Management Association (BOMA) for a new union contract. The rally, attended by approximately 70 union members, was also in observation of the 45th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assasination.

“Dr. King lived his life, and lost his life, for a just society,” said Michelle Jackson, a security officer of seven years at 550 W. Jackson Blvd., in downtown Chicago.

“We need to do our part and start with working together to create better jobs for our families and our neighborhoods.”

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Quick Hit
by Ashlee Rezin
8:07pm
Wed Mar 27

Minimum Wage Workers In Illinois Must Work More Than 80 Hours Per Week To Afford Rent

Minimum wage workers in Illinois must work 82 hours per week — more than double the hours of a standard work week — and 52 weeks a year, in order to afford to rent a safe, reasonable apartment unit, according to a recent report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC).

An Illinois renter must earn $17.02 per hour to afford the Fair Market Rent (FMR) price of $885 for a two-bedroom apartment, according to the report. That translates to $2,949 per month in income, or $35,392 annually, to ensure the renter spends less than 30 percent of their income on housing.

But the minimum wage in Illinois is $8.25. Meaning, minimum wage workers must work a staggering amount to avoid destitution.

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Quick Hit
by Ellyn Fortino
3:46pm
Mon Mar 25

McDonald's Guestworkers Hold Teach-In Against Employee Exploitation And Abuse (VIDEO)

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.

Standing in support of the guestworkers, members of the Workers Organizing Committee of Chicago, a union for downtown fast-food and retail workers that is pushing for a $15 minimum wage, discussed documented and undocumented workers’ rights to organize.

“We have rights with documents or without,” Lorraine Chavez, outreach coordinator with the Fight for 15 campaign, told the student guestworkers, who originally worked in McDonald’s restaurants in central Pennsylvania, and their allies inside the Rock ‘n’ Roll McDonald’s. Read more »

Quick Hit
by Steven Ross Johnson
2:25pm
Mon Mar 25

Robin Kelly Supports Local Security Officers In Their Call For A Living Wage (VIDEO)

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.”

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Quick Hit
by Ashlee Rezin
4:22pm
Wed Mar 20

Federal Government Workers Call For Congressional Action At Stop The Sequester Rally (VIDEO)

As federal employees brace themselves for furlough days, members of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) rallied against the sequester in downtown Chicago today.

Chanting anti-austerity slogans and carrying signs, more than 100 union members and supporters gathered in Federal Plaza Wednesday to protest $85 billion in  across-the-board federal budget cuts that went into effect March 1.

“Congress in their infinite wisdom are cutting jobs through sequestration,” said John O’Grady, president of the AFGE Local 704, which represents workers at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

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