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Wages
Quick Hit
by Ashlee Rezin
4:15pm
Thu Mar 14

Security Officers Seeking Higher Wages In Upcoming Contract Negotiations

Tonya Yarbrough, a security officer at the Chicago Stock Exchange at 440 South LaSalle St., wakes up at 5 a.m. every day to commute on the Green Line from Englewood to be at work by 7 a.m. in downtown Chicago. She says she feels safer at work than she does at home.

“If I were paid a little bit more maybe I’d be able to make a better life for myself and my family,” she said. “Maybe I could move to a better neighborhood.”

Yarbrough, 42, a born-and-raised Chicagoan and security officer of nine years, makes $12.65 an hour.

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Quick Hit
by Ellyn Fortino
5:46pm
Thu Mar 7

African American Religious Leaders Join Forces To Call For Higher Minimum Wage (VIDEO)

African-American faith-based leaders from across Illinois called on state legislators to increase Illinois’ minimum wage to $10.65 an hour at a press conference in Chicago Wednesday. 

The leaders urged their elected officials to support Senate Bill 68, which would gradually increase the minimum wage until it reaches $10.65 and go up with the cost of living each year thereafter.

Joel Miles (pictured), senior pastor of Greater Walters AME Zion Church, said raising the minimum wage could help curb the senseless violence that’s taken the lives of too many individuals in his community.

“We have seen individuals turn to illegal and violent activities simply because they are unable to pay their rent, to provide their children with basic food and clothing,” he said Wednesday at the Trinity United Church of Christ.

“No full-time worker in this state of Illinois should earn less than $17,000 a year.”

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Quick Hit
by Ashlee Rezin
3:02pm
Fri Mar 1

Report: Racial Wealth Gap Nearly Tripled Over Last 25 Years, Home Ownership A Factor

Derived from a long history of discrimination, a staggering opportunity gap has widened financial disparities between black and white Americans, condemning African Americans to less home equity, according to a new report by the Institute on Assets and Social Policy (IASP) at Brandeis University.

After studying 1,700 American families for 25 years, the report examines the major causes of America’s racial wealth gap. Researchers found that the total wealth gap between white and African American families had almost tripled during the study, increasing from $85,000 in 1984 to $236,500 in 2009.

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Quick Hit
by Ashlee Rezin
9:35pm
Wed Feb 27

Unemployment Report: Legislative Focus Needs To Be On Job Creation, Not Austerity

Unemployment rates are not expected to improve for white, Latino and African American workers through 2013, according to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute, prompting a recommendation for legislators that focus more on job creation.

“In the fourth quarter of 2012, nationwide unemployment rates were 6.3 percent for whites, 9.8 percent for Hispanics, and 14 percent for blacks. These elevated rates are projected to remain essentially unchanged at the end of 2013,” the report reads.

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Quick Hit
by Nathan Greenhalgh
3:06pm
Wed Feb 20

Low Wages Equal Violence, Report Finds

Chicago workers braved frigid temperatures and a strong wind Tuesday to make their voices heard by downtown businesses offering low wages and the impact that has on the violence plaguing their communities.

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Quick Hit
by Ashlee Rezin
6:49pm
Wed Feb 13

EPI Blasts ALEC's Economic Recommendations Saying They Are Bad For The Public Good

Researchers on a conference call today questioned the American Legislative Exchange Council's economic and fiscal policy agenda.

Hosted by the Economic Policy Institute, a non-profit think tank that often presents the liberal viewpoint on economic issues, the conference call exposed what some researchers called the “counterproductive policies” of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a state legislator organization that promotes free-market and conservative ideas.

The American Legislative Exchange Council, which is made up of more than 2,000 state legislators, came under fire last year for its promotion of the “Stand Your Ground” gun policy, but today’s conference call centered on state tax and budget policy prescriptions and privatization plans.

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PI Original
by Ashlee Rezin
4:37pm
Wed Feb 13

Obama Calls For Congress To Act On Progressive Issues In SOTU Address

Politics

With a promise to fuel economic growth but not add “a single dime” to America’s deficit, President Obama’s State of the Union address focused on creating middle-class jobs and encouraged bipartisan support for initiatives such as raising the minimum wage.