In a win for local workers, last week Illinois’s Cook County Board of Commissioners unanimously passed what workers’ advocates say is one of the strongest ordinances to combat wage theft to date in the U.S. The Cook County Wage Theft Ordinance aims to punish companies guilty of shortchanging their workers by taking away lucrative county …
Why the New Law Combating Wage Theft in Chicago is a Big Deal Read More »
With 25 percent of its African-American residents jobless, Chicago has the highest black unemployment rate among the nation’s five most populous cities. Chicago’s rate is higher than Philadelphia’s 19 percent, Los Angeles’ 18 percent, Houston’s 15 percent and New York City’s 14 percent, based on 2013 U.S. Census figures. Why? Experts point to Chicago’s unique brand …
Chicago’s Black Unemployment Rate Near Quadruple That of Whites Read More »
Four young men breakdancing on the Federal Plaza last week in downtown Chicago say a lot about why this Labor Day provides occasion for both celebration and protest. The dancers—black, white, Latino, all of them putting on a spectacular show—were fast food and retail workers on strike for the day for $15 an …
Labor Day 2013: Things Have Never Looked Worse for Workers—Or Brighter Read More »
“David Vitale, we don’t recognize you as the board chairperson… You’re fired!” Thus Jitu Brown, education organizer at the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization on Chicago’s South Side, began today’s protest rally of about 400 students, parents and community members outside the downtown headquarters of Chicago Public Schools (CPS), where Chicago Board of Education president Vitale …
Chicago Students Boycott Class, Demanding an Elected and Accountable School Board Read More »
Information about the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) working in secret to push state-level policy to more extreme levels is coming to light more and more and America’s working families are starting to stand up to the group’s corporate-driven agenda. While ALEC’s agenda is all over the policy map, the organization has a particular focus on pushing …
Chicago workers continued the roving fast food and retail strike Thursday, joining strikers and picketers around the nation calling for increased wages and better working conditions for the thousands of low-wage workers who staff some of the nation’s largest companies but are not paid even enough to scrape by. A crowd of workers and supporters sporting employee …
In Streets of Chicago, Fast Food Workers Celebrate Small Victories Read More »
Early this morning, fast food workers in New York, St. Louis and Kansas City, Mo. launched strikes demanding both a wage increase to $15 an hour—from a median of $8.94—and the right to form unions without employer interference. Later this week, workers in Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit and Flint, Mich., will also go out on strike, …
School cafeteria food is the butt of many jokes. Despite national attention and student activism aimed at making school lunches tastier and healthier, and federal regulations mandating more fruits and veggies that take effect July 1, word on the ground is that it still leaves much to be desired, to say the least. Prepackaged highly processed salty and …
Chicago Lunch Ladies Push for Fresh Food for Students…and Job Security Read More »
Six years ago, Wal-Mart’s efforts to build its first store within the Chicago city limits sparked a city-wide furor and debate over the big box giant’s labor and community practices…and led to the passage of a historic living wage “Big Box Ordinance” heralded as a national model. But the ordinance was vetoed by Mayor Richard …
Another Proposed Chicago Wal-Mart Sparks Opposition Read More »
It’s a stifling hot day in June, and Tory Moore, 37, is pounding the pavement outside a currency exchange in Bolingbrook, a Chicago suburb. Wearing a black T-shirt emblazoned with the words Warehouse Workers for Justice, sweating but full of energy, he paces back and forth while mopping his face with a yellow washcloth, looking …
Madeline Messa is a 3L at Syracuse University College of Law. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism. With her legal research and writing for Workplace Fairness, she strives to equip people with the information they need to be their own best advocate.
