ARISE Chicago

In The News Archives

• ‘Go Ahead, Try and Make Me Pay You’: Wage Theft and S.B. 1070 - 07/27/10 Working In These Times covers how workers in Arizona are being affected by the state's controviersial bill passed earlier this year. Read responses from Arise Chicago and other worker centers in our network.
• Exploited immigrants, unaware of labor laws, afraid to fight mistreatment by Shannon Mehnerand Brianna McClane - 05/26/10 Interview with Arise Chicago Worker Center member and staff organizer on wage theft and work abuses of immigrant workers.
• Arise Chicago Protests Broken Immigration System with Union and Religious Leaders - 05/25/10 On Tuesday, May 25th religious, labor, and community leaders protested the use of documentation status to commit human rights abuses—separating families and interfering with workers’ rights. Arise Chicago’s Shelly Ruzicka was among the 32 participants in civil disobedience, blocking the entrance to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in downtown Chicago.
• Ten Evanston Restaurant Workers Owed Thousands - 05/18/10 The former employees of Va Pensiero are partnering with Arise Chicago to do all they can to receive just compensation. You can help by spreading the word that while Mr. Muldrow’s food may be delicious, failing to pay his workers for work they’ve already done leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth.
• Chicago Public Radio interview with Arise member Dariusz Jaworski - 04/07/10 Jaworski and two other construction workers are suing their former employer, Walter Bochenek for more than $70,000 in unpaid wages. Their story is a very common wage theft case that happens on a daily basis among immigrant workers. A recent study conducted by CUED documents the prevalence of labor and employment law violations in the Chicago area.
• Chicago’s Widespread Wage Theft Epidemic - 04/07/10 A new study released by UIC's Center on Urban Economic Development this week reports that $7.3 million are stolen from workers each week in Chicago and Cook County.
• Polish workers in Labor Notes story on misclassification - 04/05/10 The Department of Labor investigated nine states in 2000 and found that up to 30 percent of employees were misclassified, with about 3.4 million illegally called contractors. Polish construction workers, former employees of Walter Bochenek, sue the employer for all the benefits they had lost due to their incorrect classification.
• Worker Center member encourages Secretary of Labor to reach every worker with new campaign - 04/02/10 On Thursday April 1st, the new Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis came to Chicago to announce a new DOL campaign to educate workers on their rights. Arise Chicago Worker Center member Alicia was able to ask the Secretary a question about how she will try and make sure the message reaches every low-wage worker.
• Labor Dept.‘s New ‘Sheriff’ Offers Overdue Help to Wage-Theft Victims - 04/02/10 In These Times coverage of DOL's new campaign launch with Secretary Solis
• Hoy's Coverage of Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis's visit to Chicago - 04/01/10 Spanish-language newspaper Hoy's coverage of Secretary of Labor Solis's visit to Chicago to launch a new worker outreach campaign.
• ACWC member asks Secretary Solis to reach out to every worker - 04/01/10 Click here to see the video of ACWC member Alicia speaking to Secretary of Labor HIlda Solis at the DOL's "We Can Help" outreach campaign launch in Chicago.
• Wake-Up Walmart: Stop the Walmart Tax Scam - 03/30/10 Join Chicagoland residents to to learn how tax loopholes used by Walmart take services out of our communities. Thursday April 15th at 5pm. For more information, see the flyer here.
• Fired Worker Sparks Organizing Campaign at Pete's Market - 03/23/10 Former employee of family-owned Chicago grocery store arrested for supporting union organizing efforts.
• Putting Wage Theft on the Map--Literally - 12/03/09 With the help of the UIC's Center for Urban Economic Development, Arise Chicago has mapped by ward the law-breaking employers against which we have organized. The maps illustrate law-breaking employers in 43 of Chicago’s 50 wards, affecting workers living in 47 of the wards. Click to see the map and more information.
• Fighting Wage Theft: A First-Hand Account - 11/24/09 Listen to "The Ministry of Truth" radio show's interview with AC Worker Center Polish member, Ryszard Bester who organized with his co-workers to demand over $70,000 in unpaid wages from his employer. The interview begins 15 minutes into the show.
• Radio interview on National Day of Action Against Wage Theft - 11/23/09 In November, Arise Chicago Worker Center Polish members protested wage theft as part of a National Day of Action. The workers are owed over $70,000 by a construction contractor. Anka Karewicz, AC Worker Center Polish Organizer talked about their struggle with Labor Express Radio. Listen to the interview by clicking the link.
• In Chicago—and around U.S.—Workers Continue Wage Theft Fight - 11/23/09 Coverage of Arise Chicago's participation in a National Day of Action Against Wage Theft, sponsored by national sister organization Interfaith Worker Justice.
• Faith-Labor-Action Breakfast 2009 Keynote Address - 11/22/09 Click here to find Jerry Kellman's keynote address, delivered at Arise Chicago's first annual Faith-Labor-Action Breakfast in November 2009. Kellman, who is currently the Director of Organizing at Gamaliel Metro Chicago and Director of Adult Spiritual Formation at St. Mary's of the Woods, is the community organizer who first hired Barack Obama as an organizer in Chicago.
• Radio Interview with Worker Center Director Adam Kader - 11/19/09 Adam Kader discusses Arise Chicago's participation in the National Day of Action Against Wage Theft.
• Arise Chicago on Chicago Public Radio to Discuss 10/27 Bank Protest - 10/26/09 Arise Chicago's Director of Operations sat down with Eight Forty-Eight co-host Richard Steele to discuss the Tuesday October 27th protest when the American Bankers Association is in Chicago. Listen to their conversation here.
• Maintenance Workers Fight for Lost Wages in Chicago - 09/23/09 Local clergy and community supporters joined Arise Chicago and 2 of its worker members in demanding promised wages from Build Center of Chicago. Read the full story from Working In These Times here.
• “Ya espere mucho” – Maintenance Workers Demand Justice - 09/20/09 La Raza coverd the story of the struggle of Guatamalan immigrants and AC Worker Center members who are owed thousands of dollars by a construction contractor.
• Workers Betrayed! Protest Scheduled to Recover Stolen Wages - 09/17/09 Workers and Clergy to protest boss who stole over $7700 in wages and turned his back on an agreement to pay.
• They Pick Empty Pockets: Study Finds Wage Theft Rampant - 09/09/09 Former Chicago Tribune workerplace reporter Steve Franklin writes about the widespread issue of wage theft and highlights the new national study of low-wage workers and the work of Arise Chicago's Worker Center to combat the problem locally.
• Low-Wage Workers Are Often Cheated, Study Says - 09/02/09 Arise Chicago was a community partner in a newly released study demonstrating rampant wage theft across the country. Check out this article in the New York times by prominent labor reporter, Steve Greenhouse.
• "Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers" A Comprehensive Low-Wage Worker National Study - 09/02/09 The full report published this month shows that low-wage workers across the U.S. are being robbed of wages. For example, 68 percent of all workers interviewed in the study had experienced at least one pay-related violation in the previous work week. Arise Chicago was a community partner on this shocking new study. Read the full report here.
• Clergy Join Quad City Die Casting's Protest - 06/24/09 Executive Director, Rev. C.J. Hawking organized local clergy in the Quad Cities to support workers in danger of losing their jobs if Wells Fargo refuses a line of credit to a Moline Die Casting company.
• Working Together for Justice: Chicago Debs-Thomas-Harrington Dinner - 05/19/09 Working Together for Justice” was the theme of the 51st Annual Eugene V. Debs-Norman Thomas-Michael Harrington Dinner. In keeping with the tradition of these events, it brought together a broad cross-section of Chicago’s left to honor two individuals, Timuel Black and Jane Ramsey, who have spent their lives working for social justice and building coalitions as a means of doing so. The Dinner was held on Friday evening, May 1st, the international Workers’ Day, at the Crowne Plaza Chicago Metro hotel in Chicago’s Greektown.
• The New Environmental Advocates - 05/05/09 Rev. C. J. Hawking, executive director of Arise Chicago, said initiative partners are coordinating efforts in anticipation of millions of dollars in funding being allocated for green jobs in Chicago.
• All in a Day’s Pay - 05/01/09 The economic crisis that capital is currently facing has had its share of high profile “victims,” with names like AIG and General Motors coming to Washington D.C. to plead their case. We hear their stories, their trial and tribulations, all the while news reports showcase faceless numbers without shining a light on the actual people being laid off or having their hours and pay cut back. Temporary labor touches nearly every industry of our society, where workers deliver our newspapers, take out our garbage, repair our houses, and produce our material goods.
• Hope on May Day 2009: A View from Chicago - 05/01/09 A reflection on the 2009 May Day march from Worker Center Director, Adam Kader.
• New-Fashioned Unions: A Profile of Arise Chicago - 04/16/09 When the United Electrical union workers at Chicago’s Republic Windows and Doors occupied their factory in the cold, early days of December last year, they were not alone.
• Facing Funding Shortfalls, Worker Centers Keep Organizing - 04/01/09 Just as worker centers are reporting an increase in calls and drop-ins, and ripe potential among members, some are facing funding shortfalls that jeopardize their work.
• Prosecute Wage Theft - 02/18/09 Wages are stolen from millions of workers in the United States every year, putting billions of dollars out of the hands of their rightful owners and into the coffers of unscrupulous employers.
• No Sweet Ending Yet - 02/18/09 Rodolfo Nava, 53, has seen hard times before, but not like this. He is still waiting for $800 which he claims is owed him by the owners of Sweet Thang Bakery and the Sweet Occasions and More ice cream shops.
• Homemade Pizza Company Pays Up - 02/18/09 Arise Chicago, a local worker rights center, recovered more than $8,300 in withheld wages and minimum-wage violations on behalf of six workers who walked out of a HomeMade Pizza Company factory in January.
• Window Pain - 12/16/08 Over the past couple of weeks, the Republic Window Workers have captured the attention of the nation and the world, winning their historic struggle for owed compensation from their Chicago factory and from Bank of America.
• Giant Victory for Chicago Workers - 12/12/08 “No justice, no peace!” shouted activists, union members, religious groups, and youth outside the Republic Windows & Doors manufacturing plant on Division and Halsted Streets on the north side of Chicago.
• Workers allege bakery owner still owes them thousands in back pay - 12/09/08 The workers are being organized by the Interfaith Worker Center, an Edgewater organization that works with low-wage earners to recover lost wages and wage theft, including illegal docking.
• Chicago workers occupy their factory - 12/08/08 A factory occupation in Chicago that began as a show of defiance by 250 workers has been transformed into a focus of national and international labor solidarity.
• Sweet Thang Not So Sweet - 11/18/08 Earlier this year, Wicker Park's Sweet Thang bakery lost its lease and had to close its doors, Chef Bernard Runo promised to reopen in a new location. And indeed it did, at 2142 W. Roscoe Ave. in Roscoe Village.