Fox Valley Labor News
staff reports
Thursday, April 21, 2016
CHICAGO — Thousands of low-wage workers, labor organizations and their supporters staged protest marches April 14 throughout Chicago to fight for a $15 minimum wage and union representation.
The action is the first major strike since historic wins for $15 an hour minimum wages in in New York and California.
A series of Labor protests for the Fight for $15 movement were held in Chicago and across the country April 14. Protestors and their supporters are demanding the minimum wage be raised to $15 per hour and union representation. Photo courtesy of Fight for $15 Chicago
Chicago demonstrations began early April 14 at a McDonalds on the South Side, where people blocked traffic and claimed solidarity with other low-wage workers. McDonald’s was targeted because of its ability to influence pay practices throughout the economy.
April 14 was a day to demonstrate in support of a $15 minimum wage, with several marches around the city of Chicago. Photo courtesy of Fight for $15.
The protest later moved to Loyola University on the North Side. The groups are all demanding a living wage.
April 13, the Service Employees International Union Healthcare Illinois (SEIU) nursing home workers, childcare and home health care workers rallied and marched as part of the Fight for $15 movement, going to two nursing homes on the North Side and accusing Gov. Bruce Rauner of “holding the budget hostage in an effort to drive wages and benefits down into the dirt.”
Low-wage workers protested April 14 for a $15 minimum wage and union rights in more than 300 U.S. cities and 40 countries, representing the largest Fight for $15 strike since the campaign began in 2012.
A giant banner is seen hanging from the roof of a building to the south of the Rock ‘n Roll McDonalds in Chicago. Photo courtesy of Fight for $15.
The push is being backed by the SEIU and began in late 2012, with striking fast-food workers in New York City. Since then, the growing demonstrations have helped make hourly pay a major political issue.
Chicago already has taken steps to gradually increase its minimum wage to $13 an hour by 2019, but Fight for $15 activists have said that’s not good enough.