The Militant (logo)  

Vol. 79/No. 37      October 19, 2015

 
Fast-food workers lead fight
for $15 in Chicago suburbs
 
BY JOHN HAWKINS  
OAK PARK, Ill. — More than 100 fast-food workers and their supporters marched and rallied here Sept. 28 before attending a meeting of the Village Board to demand legislation raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. The minimum in Chicago is now $10 and scheduled to rise to $13 in the coming years. Workers here and in other suburbs are covered by the state minimum of $8.25.

Participants included Walmart workers, members of the Chicago Teachers Union and United Steelworkers, and a contingent of high school students.

Anthony Kemp moderated the rally outside a McDonald’s restaurant across the street from the municipal building. He is a cook at Kentucky Fried Chicken and a member of Fight for 15, the group that called the action.

“We have marched with Fight for 15 for three years now,” Rev. C.J. Hawking, executive director of Arise Chicago, told the rally. “And we’re going to keep marching until we win a $15-an-hour minimum wage in Chicago and its suburbs. On Nov. 10 we’re going to march again.” There will be strikes across the city and a mobilization in downtown Chicago that day.

“The billionaire owners of McDonald’s and Walmart live a comfortable life. Why can’t we smile now and then too?” said Ray Scott, a member of OUR Walmart. “At Walmart, where I work, we owe a debt to you. You were there for us when we struck on Black Friday. On Nov. 10 we will be there for you.”

“I live in the suburbs, but I work in Chicago because I can’t transfer and take a wage cut,” Douglas Hunter, 54, told the Militant. “What we need is $15 and a union. And I stress the union because without it we can’t defend whatever we gain, whether it’s wages, safety, health care, vacation time, sick pay or pension.” When the pay rose to $10 at the McDonald’s where he works, the bosses cut his hours, Hunter said.

Kemp was one of several workers who addressed the Village Board later in the day. “It is imperative that we receive a living wage in order to care for our families, afford transportation to and from work, pay for health care and afford other necessities,” he said.

“Burger King in Chicago raised its wages to $10, but not here in the suburbs,” said Alba Trujillo. “It’s not fair.”

The next day hundreds of workers at O’Hare Airport rallied to add their voices to the Fight for 15 movement and bring attention to the poverty wages they are paid.
 
 
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