CHICAGO — Rep. Jan Schakowsky isn’t afraid to speak her mind, toe the line with union activists, and hell — even get arrested standing up for immigrant rights.

For these reasons and more, Schakowsky was the recipient the 2013 Charlie Hayes Leadership award given by Chicago Jobs with Justice (JwJ). The award is named in honor of Hayes’ contributions to making life better for working men and women.

Coming straight from Washington, where Schakowsky voted to reopen the government, she made her way to the Chicago Federation of Musicians headquarters on Randolph Street where labor leaders, politicians and supporters awaited her arrival to celebrate.

She explained how happy she was not to be in Washington anymore and to be around sane, like-minded people.

“[The vote to reopen the government] was due to the incredible unity of the Democratic Party. Progress has been slow and it’s been difficult because Republicans has stood in our way. They try to block our president and this Congress in anyway they can,” Schakowsky explained.

Oct. 8, while participating in an immigrants’ rally in Washington, Schakowsky was arrested for “blocking passage” of a street in Washington. Her passion for justice led her to the Capitol to tell House Republican leadership to stop delaying a vote on comprehensive immigration legislation.

“If we put the pressure on, we can get a vote. I believe it will include a path to citizenship and bring 12 million people out of the shadows and stop the deportations and stop the detentions.

With the passage of comprehensive immigration legislation, she believes the country can make its mark in history and allow the country to soar.

“I think we may be at a turning point. The Republican Party may have gone one step too far [with its obstructionism]. And now our agenda — the Chicago Jobs with Justice agenda and the union movement — will succeed. The union movement brought us the middle class and it is the only thing that will revive the middle class in the United States,” Schakowsky said to applause.

SEIU Local 1 President Tom Balanoff called his friend a progressive leader and was well-deserving of the Charlie Hayes award.

“She continues the good work that Charlie Hayes did. Jan stands up and fights for working people, she fights for what’s right, she fights for justice and she fights for fairness. She’s fearless,” Balanoff said.

Her activism recently put her in New York, where she marched alongside low-wage workers fighting for $15 an hour as part of the Fight for $15.

“The public cost of low-wage jobs in the fast food industry is staggering. These workers are forced to turn to the federal government for Medicaid, for SNAP program and earned income tax credit, which actually is a good thing,” she explained.

What angers her is listening to fellow representatives across the aisle in Washington demonize these low-wage workers as the “takers.”

“I stood with poverty-wage workers at McDonald’s in New York who make $7.25 an hour as minimum wage. This is an example of income inequality in our country, which is a cancer that is rotting our country from the inside out,” Schakowsky said.

The bright spot on the horizon is organized labor, Jobs with Justice and other like-minded organizations across the country who are fighting for change.

“When we organize, we change the country. Those people marching in the streets for equality — they will be voting. Those votes will get rid of the Tea Party and put Nancy Pelosi in charge of the House,” Schakowsky said to applause.

She has never forgotten her roots. She had the pleasure of getting to know Hayes when she was first beginning to be an organizer.

“He was such a role model and a hero. This [award] means a lot to me,” she explained.

Visit the Fox Valley Labor News YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/user/foxvalleylabornews to hear Jan Schakowsky and Tom Balanoff speak at the event.