One Week After Election, Community Leaders Take to Street for Minimum Wage, Education, and Housing Priorities Overwhelmingly Supported by Chicago Voters
CHICAGO—(ENEWSPF)—November 10, 2014. Community leaders will hold a rally on Tuesday, November 11 at noon at the Thompson Center, 100 W Randolph St, Chicago. Following the rally at Thompson Center, participants will march to the Chicago Board of Trade, 141 W Jackson Blvd, for a second rally.
On Election Day, voters clearly stood in favor of economic justice. They sent a clear mandate voting by a 2 to 1 margin to increase the state minimum wage and overwhelmingly supported putting more money into education by taxing the super rich.
Voters are fed up with elected officials that ignore the public interest in favor of corporate interests. Community leaders from across Chicago’s neighborhoods are coming together to demand that elected officials from Springfield to Chicago listen to residents instead of corporate interests.
The Take Back Chicago Coalition, convened by Grassroots Collaborative, is calling for:
Passage of an increased Illinois state minimum wage of $10.65 during the Springfield veto session.
$15 City Minimum wage that includes all of our neighborhoods and does not leave out tipped and domestic workers.
An Elected Representative School Board to give Chicago parents a voice in our schools by allowing them to vote for the people that control the school budget like in every other city in Illinois.
Immediate reform of the Chicago Housing Authority. Currently CHA is sitting on a stockpile of money that should be going to put Chicagoans into homes before another brutal winter. It’s time that we pass the Keeping the Promise ordinance to hold CHA accountable and allow for greater transparency.
Hundreds of residents will gather at the Thompson Center for an opening program with speakers who have been directly impacted by corporate policies that turn the pain of Chicago neighborhoods into profit. Participants will then march to several corporate players stifling legislation to help working families while profiting off of poverty wages, toxic interest rate swaps, and social impact bonds, like McDonalds, Bank of America, and Loop Capital.
Participating organizations include:
Action Now
Brighton Park Neighborhood Council
Bronzeville Alliance
Chicago Coalition for the Homeless
Chicago Housing Initiative
Chicago Teachers Union
Enlace Chicago
Grassroots Collaborative
Iraq Veterans Against the War
Jane Addams Senior Caucus
Kenwood Oakland Community Organization
Logan Square Neighborhood Association
Lugenia Burns Hope Center
Metropolitan Tenants Organization
ONE Northside
People For Community Recovery
Pilsen Alliance
Restaurant Opportunities Center Chicago
SEIU Healthcare Illinois Indiana
Southsiders Together Organizing for Power
Source: www.thegrassrootscollaborative.org
