The protest outside of the Chamber of Commerce office in Chicago!
On June 24th, hundreds of working people in Illinois gathered at the Thompson Center in downtown Chicago to demand a raise in the minimum wage!
There were similar protests held in other areas of Illinois, like Springfield and Peoria, as well as in many other cities all over the country!
June 24th was a day of action where working Americans united to take back our economy and demand a living wage for a hard day of work! Click here to see photos from rallies all over the country.
Minimum wage rally in Springfield, Illinois!
In Chicago, we marched from the Thompson Center to the Aon Center, where the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce is located. The Chamber of Commerce has consistently opposed raising the minimum wage and uses its lobbying power in Springfield to stop legislation that would help workers. The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce only looks out for the interests of big business and the 1%, so we showed up demonstrate the power of the 99% and to call for them to end their fight against increasing the minimum wage.
Minimum Wage worker Denise Brown explains the difficulty of making ends meet on $8.25 an hour
Please sign one or all of the petitions below to to show our Illinois and national legislators that working Americans support raising the minimum wage!
As a result of the June 24th Day of Action, the fight to raise the minimum wage has burst onto the headlines of major national news outlets. See some of the press coverage below:
New York Times, “Planning a March, and Envisioning a Movement, to Unite Low-Wage Workers”
MSNBC, “Top economists: Time to raise the minimum wage”
U.S. News, “An Increase in the Minimum Wage Is Long Overdue”
Forbes, “Women Need a Raise in the Minimum Wage”
Reuters, “Three years after last increase, business group calls for U.S. minimum wage hike”
Huffington Post, “Raising the Minimum Wage is Cheap and Easy”
The Washington Post, “Low-wage workers plan NYC protest march next week; part of actions planned around US”
Think Progress, “STUDY: One In Four Private Sector Workers Earn Less Than $10 An Hour”
Daily Kos, “Big companies employ two in three low-wage workers”
Huffington Post, “Want a Real Recovery? Raise the Minimum Wage”
