Thousands Shut Down The Loop In Largest Ever Fight For 15 Demonstration
By aaroncynic in News on Apr 16, 2015 5:45PM
Thousands marched through the loop yesterday after a day of picketing citywide in an effort to bring awareness to raising pay for low-wage workers. Strikes began as early as 6:00 a.m. and were part of a global mobilization led by the Fight for 15 movement and its allies that saw actions in more than 200 cities and 30 countries.
“We standing here today saying that we’re tired of these starvation wages,” said Douglas Hunter, a 53-year-old McDonald’s employee at a press conference at one of the company’s franchise locations on the West Side. “We’re saying to McDonald’s and to these other multi-billion dollar corporations that we demand a living wage.”
Fast food workers like Hunter were joined by thousands of workers from multiple low wage industries, including home and child care workers, airport, industrial laundry and security workers, as well as students, adjunct professors, clergy and community activists.
“I work long hours, sometimes up to 17 hours," said Sharon Norwood, a 41-year-old SEIU child care provider from Evergreen Park. Child and home care workers are some of the lowest paid in the country, with some taking home less than $13,000 a year. Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner’s proposed state budget cuts would also harm child care workers, pulling millions away from an already cash strapped program and leaving many workers jobless. “It’s time that the state pays their fair share for all of us,” said Norwood. “We need a fair wage so we can take care of our families.”
The demonstrations, which have spread and grown considerably in the past few years, have become about more than just demanding a $15 an hour minimum wage. While a living wage for some of America’s lowest paid workers is a key component, organizing for a shot at forming a union, collective bargaining rights, better treatment on the job and simply forcing some of the country’s largest employers to hear their employees concerns have united what is quickly becoming a new labor movement.
“We’re, as brothers and sisters, they’re being the same way, treated as us, no different,” Mohamed Hasan, a Brinks employee, told CBS News. Some 40 Brinks employees walked off the job Wednesday morning and picketed a warehouse on the southwest side, demanding overtime pay. They later joined with the larger mobilization, which began its march on the UIC campus, where students and adjunct professors also participated. Wanda Brewer, an adjunct professor from Concordia University said:
“In spite of my dedication, expertise and a commitment to the values of higher learning, I am a PhD on welfare like nearly 100,000 other adjunct professors in America. I stand in solidarity with the Fight for $15 which is bringing together workers from different jobs who have a vested interest in higher pay that will mean investments in our communities that can only strengthen our economy.”
Former Mayoral candidate Cook County Commissioner Jesus “Chuy” Garcia also joined the protesters, who after departing from the UIC campus slowly moved east on Jackson into the loop in the shadow of a 16-foot tall statue they dubbed “Dignidad.” “The fight for 15 represents justice and economic justice for everyone,” said Garcia.
After demonstrators flooded the plaza adjacent to the McDonald’s at the Board of Trade, they left the fast food giant with a message that they plan to keep fighting. “We are a movement,” they chanted in unison. “We are growing, we are coming to Oak Brook, to your shareholders. We won’t stop. We can’t stop. We believe we will win.”