FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 24, 2006

Rally and Press Conference In Support of Chicago Big Box Living Wage Ordinance

9:15 a.m., Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Thompson Center
100 W. Randolph, Chicago

To make work pay, 33 members of the Chicago City Council have sponsored a Big Box Living Wage Ordinance due to the predatory employment practices of many large retail chains and the economic impact of these big box stores expanding in Chicago. The ordinance would ensure that employees at big box retail stores in Chicago receive a living wage of $10 per hour and at least $3 per hour in benefits.

The press conference and rally will be held by local labor, community, and religious groups, to urge the passage of this essential ordinance to ensure that Chicago's working families can earn wages and benefits that will enable them to provide for themselves and for their families. Members of the Chicago City Council who are sponsoring the Big Box Living Wage Ordinance will also be participating in the event. Without this ordinance, the number of retail workers relying on government assistance will increase dramatically as big box stores continue with aggressive expansion plans in the city while providing jobs that offer low wages and little in terms of affordable health care.

Scheduled speakers include: Ron Powell, President, Local 881 and UFCW International Vice President; Reverend Greg Livingston, Mandell United Methodist Church; Anna Burger, Chair, Change to Win; Toni Foulkes, Chairman, Southside Chapter-Englewood, ACORN and Steward, Local 881 UFCW; Margaret Blackshere, President, Illinois AFL-CIO; Dennis Gannon, President, Chicago Federation of Labor

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Contact: Elizabeth Drea, Local 881 UFCW, 847-294-5064, ext. 407

This event is one of dozens of events being held across the country as a part of the Make Work Pay! campaign, an initiative of Change to Win, a coalition of more than six million workers and seven unions.