Tuesday, March 8: Days Ahead of Illinois Primary, Chicago Fast Food Workers Demand $15, Union Rights & Immigration Reform from Political Candidates

***Visuals: Fight for 15 signs, posters of women faces in the labor movement, songs, chants ***

Days Ahead of Illinois Primary, Chicago Fast Food Workers Demand $15, Union Rights & Immigration Reform from Political Candidates

In Honor of International Women's Day, McDonald's Workers Also Call For An End to Discrimination and Abuse of Older Women Workers

CHICAGO – As March 8th marks one week from the Illinois Primary Election, women fast food workers will prove themselves as a political force on
International Women’s Day and demand that elected officials support $15 an hour & union rights, and pay attention to the economic concerns of women, families and working people.

Fast-food workers will join with community members at the Rock N’ Roll McDonald’s to rally at 10:00 a.m. to demand immigration justice, an end to age discrimination, as well as gender and language inequalities in the workplace. Elderly McDonald’s women workers will give testimony about their discrimination/abuse to show why McDonald’s and politicians need to step up. The action will include a march at the store’s location, followed by a rally and speak out. Workers will also participate by holding signs and chanting songs to demand respect and dignity in the workplace.

As the Fight for $15 builds a political front ahead of the 2016 election, the New York Times <http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/11/10/the-fight-for-15-comes-to-the-republican-debate/?_r=1> and USA Today <http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/11/23/15-minimum-wage-voting-poll-column/76047086/> have both warned candidates who ignore the growing movement that they do so “at their own peril.” Meanwhile, the Associated Press <http://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-yorks-15-minimum-wage-hike-ignites-national-interest/> said underpaid workers are flexing, “increasingly potent political muscle,” and BuzzFeed <http://www.buzzfeed.com/coralewis/poll-says-promising-a-minimum-wage-hike-would-boost-voter-tu#.lmYX6GYy9> has said they “could make up a powerful new voting bloc.”

*WHO:*

Chicago women fast-food women workers. Families. Children. Community.

WHAT:

International Women’s Day rally to demand $15, union rights, immigration reform from elected officials & call on McDonald’s to end workplace
discrimination & abuse

WHEN:

Tuesday, March 8, 2016; 10:00 a.m.

WHERE:

Rock N’ Roll McDonald’s, 600 N. Clark St

WHY:

Approximately two-thirds of fast food workers are women and most are over the age of 32. More than a third of fast food workers age 20 or older are raising at least one child. Almost half of low income working mothers are employed in retail and service sector jobs that pay low-wages, limit hours and fail to provide benefits such as health and paid sick leave. Low wage jobs require women to work nonstandard work schedules, making it more difficult for them to manage work, family, school and studying.

The majority of workers in the fast food industry are women and many report being verbally and physically abused. Additionally, elderly women workers report being discriminated against because of their age.

This primary season, fast food workers in the Fight for $15 are demanding “Come Get My Vote” to politicians, forcing them to address the demands of the nearly 64 million Americans who are paid less than $15, and specifically the 2.5 million workers in Illinois who are paid less than $15/hr.

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Founded in November of 2012, the Workers Organizing Committee of Chicago is a union of fast food and retail workers. The workers’ Fight for 15 campaign seeks a $15 an hour and the right to form a union without retaliation. The Fight for 15 campaign is supported by an ever-expanding
coalition of community, labor and faith-based groups including: Action Now; Albany Park Neighborhood Council; Arise Chicago; Brighton Park Neighborhood Council; Chicago Coalition for the Homeless; Chicago Jobs with Justice; Chicago Teachers Union; Grassroots Collaborative; Illinois Hunger Coalition; Jane Addams Senior Caucus; ONE Northside; Southside Together Organizing for Power (STOP); SEIU Local 1; SEIU Local 73; SEIU Healthcare Illinois; Indiana, Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation; United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America Western Region; and Workers United.