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Economy
Quick Hit
by Ashlee Rezin
5:20pm
Thu Apr 18

SEIU Security Guards Brave Bad Weather To Rally For A Fair Contract (VIDEO)

This is the third and final week of collective bargaining before the SEIU* Local 1 security officers’ contracts are set to expire, and despite a thunderstorm and flood warnings, union members gathered at the Thompson Center late Wednesday afternoon to rally for higher wages.

“You’re sending a very strong message today, that no matter what the weather is like you still demand a good contract,” said Efrain Elias, a union representative for SEIU Local 1, to a group of approximately 50 demonstrators.

“We are not going to let a little rain slow us up,” he said.

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Quick Hit
by Ashlee Rezin
2:02pm
Wed Apr 17

Workers Advocate For Living Wage At Peet's Coffee & Tea

Caribou Coffee locations across Illinois closed their doors Sunday, but many will soon be rebranded as Peet’s Coffee & Tea. Workers who stay on-board during the rebranding transition though, will be walking into a job that pays poverty wages, according to a group of workers from one Chicago branch of Peet’s.

Wages paid by Peet’s, and the limited number of available hours, forces workers into poverty, according to Joshua van Cleef, 28, a worker of more than one year at Peet’s Coffee & Tea store 403 in Chicago’s North Side neighborhood of Lincoln Park.

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Quick Hit
by Ashlee Rezin
12:51pm
Wed Apr 17

Bustos Introduces Legislation Aimed At Boosting Job Creation, Regulating Federal Contracts

A new House bill would make job creation an important element in contract bids for the federal government.

The legislation, called the American Jobs Matter Act, HR 1332, would require companies to include a “jobs impact statement” in their proposal for contract bids. The statement tells the government the number of jobs that will be created by the company and its subcontractors.

The legislation also requires companies to guarantee that jobs will not be moved outside of the U.S. once the contract has been awarded.

“America, specifically our region of America, has the best workers in the world,” said U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos (D, IL-17), sponsor of the legislation, on a conference call. “We should take advantage of their skills and craftsmanship.”

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Quick Hit
by Brandon Campbell
11:28am
Tue Apr 16

$100,000 Plus In College Debt, ‘No Jobs in Sight’: Chicago Students Push For Loan Reforms (VIDEO)

With total college loan debts pushing nearly a trillion dollars in the U.S., a group of Chicago students are pushing for student loan reforms.

Students told stories of promising futures soon replaced by a grim employment outlook through their prepared speeches at the Chicago Temple United Methodist Church Saturday afternoon.

Amanda Weaver, a Loyola University master’s student, told the crowd of about 200 parents, students and concerned community members that her student loans added up to a combined total pf $134,000.

“My parents, teachers, guidance counselors all told me ‘Go to school, take the loans, invest in my future,’” Weaver said speaking from the church pulpit. “I was told I would get nowhere in the job market without this expensive degree. Well, the truth is, after I graduated there were no jobs in sight.”

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