ARISE Chicago

In The News Archives

• Preparing for battle in a war of ideas at protest central - 05/05/12 But no matter how you feel about the NATO confab — It's a great way to showcase Chicago or What a waste of money and resources — you will, even from afar, be reminded of the vibrant part that art plays in political protest.
• Chicago's May Day Takes the Streets - 05/01/12 The birthplace of May Day celebrated the workers' holiday Tuesday with an Occupy-led action against Bank of America and a thousand-strong march chanting for immigrant rights andjusticia for the 99 percent.
• Organized labor taking on 'friendly-fire' from Illinois Democrats. - 04/30/12 Headlines coming out of Wisconsin and Indiana about the politics of organized labor are nothing new. Both states have Republican governors who’ve taken on union power - over wages, benefits and organizing rights.
• GE annual meeting interrupted by 99 Percent protesters - 04/25/12 Nearly 100 protesters affiliated with the "99 Percent" populist movement disrupted General Electric Co's annual shareholders' meeting on Wednesday in an attack on the largest U.S. conglomerate's low tax rate.
• May Day to Emphasize Immigrant and Worker’s Rights - 04/11/12 “Workers all over the country are under attack,” said Micah Uetricht, organizer for Arise Chicago in a press conference at Haymarket Square on April 11. “Immigrant families are fighting for the right to stay together. We encourage everyone to come out to the streets on May 1 and continue to fight for those basic rights that everyone is entitled to.”
• Advocating to Raise the Minimum Wage - 04/04/12 Raise Illinois coalition members have been meeting with state legislators in recent weeks to garner support for SB 1565, which raises Illinois' minimum wage from $8.25/hour to $10.65/hour over four years and indexes future increases to inflation.
• Getting Back Pay - 03/09/12 Labor groups resolve wage disputes by taking matters to employers
• Republic Windows Workers Consider Employee-Owned Co-Op - 03/01/12 Three years ago, a worker occupation in Chicago saved a factory and sent up a flare of resistance. Three years on, workers at the same factory are illuminating not only how workers might resist layoffs but also what they might do next.
• Waiting in Vain - 03/01/12 Workers who file wage-theft claims at the Illinois Department of Labor face a long delay and steep odds of winning back full wages.
• Catholic Social Teaching and Job Security - 02/16/12 Recently ARISE Chicago Worker Center was in the news, fighting for the rights of 136 former employees of Rolf’s Patisserie.
• Sudden Business Closures in Chicago Prompt Wage Theft Fights - 02/14/12 Losing your job is hard on any worker. But imagine discovering from the company website that your job is gone.
• Raise Illinois: Why I'm Going to Springfield Tomorrow - 01/30/12 I am one of 34 religious leaders and 34 low-wage workers traveling to Springfield on Tuesday to present a petition to each state legislator and the governor to raise the minimum wage in Illinois.
• CME Group's 'Golden Toilet'? Budget Cuts Renew Anger About Chicago TIFs - 01/24/12 On Tuesday morning, a group of about 50 protesters gathered at the Board of Trade -- home of the CME Group -- to deliver a "golden toilet" to the biggest operator of U.S. futures exchanges.
• Unjustly fired bakery workers get last paycheck - 01/19/12 This morning, former employees of Rolf's Patisserie in Lincolnwood are counting a small victory.
• Suburban Bakery Workers Continue Fight For What is Owed - 01/19/12 Two weeks before Christmas the workers at Rolf's Patisserie in Lincolnwood, a suburb north of Chicago, received the devastating news of the bakery's closure.
• Employees of shuttered Lincolnwood bakery could receive final - 01/18/12 Employees of the recently closed Rolf's Patisserie in Lincolnwood could receive payment for their final paychecks and remaining vacation time, according to an attorney for the employees.
• 'Unjustly Fired' Bakery Workers Announce First Victory, Continued Demand for Full Payment Under Law - 01/18/12 Say payment of “fraction” of what they are owed is “a good start, but it’s just a start.”
• Rolf's Bakery Workers Continue Lawsuit, Though Lawyer Says Business Offered To Pay Lost Wages - 01/17/12 Employees of a Lincolnwood bakery who say their rights were violated when the business closed abruptly will continue their lawsuit, even though owners have reportedly offered to issue final paychecks and compensate for remaining vacation time.
• Another Republic Windows? Patisserie workers fight alleged wage theft, firing - 01/11/12 The workers--134 in all--were fired from Rolf's.
• Rolf's Patisserie workers sue over abrupt closing - 01/11/12 Employees seek final paychecks, compensation for vacation time
• Lincolnwood Bakery Employees Suing Over Firings - 01/11/12 Former employees of Rolf's Patisserie are suing the bakery over what they say were improper firings.
• Republic Windows Redux? Chicago Bakery Faces Class Action Suit for Pre-Christmas Closure - 01/11/12 Almost exactly two years after workers at Republic Windows and Doors famously occupied the plant after the company's owner closed it suddenly (without giving them advance notice and severance and vacation pay), in December 2010 a suburban Chicago bakery called Rolf’s Patisserie similarly shut down operations without notice.
• Rolf’s Bakery Workers: We Were Left Out In The Cold - 01/10/12 More than 100 people who worked at Rolf’s Patisserie are suing the owners of the Lincolnwood bakery following its abrupt closure last month.
• Closed Rolf's Patisserie hit with lawsuit - 01/10/12 Workers of shuttered Rolf's Patisserie have sued the bakery, claiming the eatery violated state laws when it abruptly closed in December.
• Rolf's Workers To Protest Allegedly Unlawful Firing, Bounced Paychecks - 01/10/12 Now former Rolf's workers are staging a protest this morning at 11 a.m. at the shuttered facility, alleging that their final paycheck bounced and the abrupt layoffs of over 130 employees were in violation of the federal WARN Act, which sets out rules for such closings.
• Rolf's Patisserie Faces Class Action Lawsuit - 01/10/12 Rolf's Patisserie, one of the area's largest contract and wedding bakeries, abruptly closed on Dec. 10, citing "sharply higher operating costs, the cost of financing an expansion project and the inability to operationally meet the seasonal demands of our customers."
• Latinos despedidos quieren su dignidad, demandan a - 01/10/12 Luego de varias semanas de haberse quedado sin empleo, Karen Leyva dijo que aún no puede creer que Rolf’s Patisserie, la empresa para la que trabajó por más de seis años, cerró sus puertas sin avisar.
• Latinos despedidos quieren su dignidad, demandan a - 01/10/12 Luego de varias semanas de haberse quedado sin empleo, Karen Leyva dijo que aún no puede creer que Rolf’s Patisserie, la empresa para la que trabajó por más de seis años, cerró sus puertas sin avisar.
• Former Bakery Workers Protest 'Abrupt' Layoffs - 01/10/12 The workers say Rolf's Patisserie informed them via a three-sentence web announcement
• Protestan despidos abruptos - 01/10/12 Más de una centena de trabajadores piden justicia luego de que sin previo aviso perdieran su empleo.
• Employees of closed Lincolnwood bakery want ‘justice’ for lost jobs, pay - 01/10/12 A group of former employees at the recently closed Rolf’s Patisserie in Lincolnwood filed a lawsuit Tuesday, claiming the bakery failed to properly notify employees of its closure.
• Former bakery employees protest being abruptly fired - 01/10/12 Former workers at a recently closed bakery marched in front of the shuttered plant Tuesday demanding answers after being abruptly fired two weeks before Christmas.
• Estás Viendo: Panadería acusada de violar derechos laborales - 01/10/12 Ex empleados aseguran que recibieron cheques sin fondos
• Worker Center Organizer Job Posting - 12/01/11 Job posting, searching for a Worker Center Organizer. Candidate must have 2-3 years of organizing experience and be fully bilingual in Spanish and English.
• Worker Center Organizer Job Description - 12/01/11 Description of job responsibilities and applicant qualifications for Worker Center Organizer. Applicant must be fully bilingual in Spanish and English and should have 2-3 years of organizing experience.
• Religious Leaders Join Hyatt Strikers In Chicago, Host Interfaith Prayer - 09/14/11 HuffPostChicago announces Arise Chicago's prayer action with the striking Hyatt Hotel workers.
• Weeklong Hyatt Strike Comes To A Close - 09/14/11 Read coverage from Progress Illinois on the end of the Chicago Hyatt worker strike. It ended today and included a visit from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and an interfaith prayer action with over 20 clergy.
• Union Leaders Seek Religious Help for Labor Cause - 09/04/11 Chicago Tribune: "Union leaders across the Chicago area fanned out to churches, mosques and synagogues this weekend to argue that organized labor’s cause is on the side of God." Read more here.
• Trabajador dicen que le deben miles de dólares por salarios y tiempo extra - 08/02/11 Read the coverage in HOY of Miguel's action at his former employer, Doña Mari #2 (a local grocery store) on August 1st. (article is in Spanish). Articulo acerca de una protesta de Miguel afuera del lugar donde el trabajaba. El dueño le debe Miguel mas que $7,000.
• Chicago Butcher Demands His Pay - 08/01/11 "Miguel Brito, a Mexican immigrant, has worked at a Chicago butcher shop called Dona Mari?s 2 for 16 years. Brito says he has been cheated out of wages consistently for most of his employment there." Read the full article from Working In These Times here.
• 2011 Labor Day Program Speaker Handbook - 07/31/11 This year's handbook for speakers going to congregations over Labor Day weekend.
• Employers keep the cash, employees take home the risk - The Chicago Reporter - 07/13/11 "It seems like there was an era in America where there was a general contract between employers and employees. Employees work hard and dedicate their careers to helping a company earn a profit. In return, employers are loyal to those employees, offering them insurance, workers' comp, and the general expectation of being taken care of in exchange for your work. That contract, if it ever existed, has been severely weakened. Some might even say it's been broken. ARISE Chicago, a collaboration between faith groups and local workers to fight labor injustice, is bringing to light the ways in which employers no longer feel obligated to offer their employees anything except a meager wage... and sometimes, not even that."
• Coalition Demands Higher Minimum Wage - Chicago Citizens Newspaper - 07/13/11 “By raising the minimum wage, we are going to allow mothers and fathers to quit their second or third jobs to be at home with their families," said Rev. C.J. Hawking.
• Troublemakers School Connects Labor and Immigrant Groups - Chicago Tribune - 07/13/11 Arise Workers Center director Adam Kader was quoted in this Chicago Tribune article on Labor Notes' Troublemakers Schools.
• Illinoisans Call for Minimum Wage Increase - Working In These Times - 07/12/11 The state minimum wage is not being increased for the first time five years. Arise joined the Raise Illinois coalition at a press conference to demand it be raised to support working families in Illinois.
• Raise the Minimum Wage - Gapers Block Mechanics - 07/12/11 Arise joins the call for an increase in the minimum wage in Illinois.
• American Workplaces are Safer...But Not for Everyone - 04/06/11 U.S. workplaces are getting safer, according to national Department of Labor statistics for the past two decades. But immigrant workers in the most dangerous occupations have not shared in the increased safety, according to statistics and a recent report by seven worker centers nationwide.
• Time for Faith Community to Take Stand for Workers - 04/03/11 Tomorrow, tens of thousands of people will march and rally in We Are One actions to show support for workers under attack by corporate- bought Republican governors bent on power grabs and political payback. Many of the marchers will be from a wide variety of faith communities. In a guest column on the AFL-CIO website, the Rev. C.J. Hawking says this is a time for people of faith to take a stand.
• OSHA Region V Participates in the Arise Chicago Worker Health and Safety Public Forum - 03/30/11 OSHA Region V reached out to Latino and other vulnerable workers at the Worker Health and Safety Public Forum sponsored by the Arise Chicago Worker Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) on March 9, 2011. The forum was another example of OSHA's efforts to follow up on the success of the April 2010 OSHA National Action Summit for Latino Worker Health & Safety to reach out to diverse and high-risk workers.
• Peligros en el Empleo - 03/27/11 Dangers in the Workplace. Click here to follow up on an article that is part of our Heath and Safety Project.
• American Workplaces Are Safer…But Not for Everyone - 03/25/11 U.S. workplaces are getting safer, according to national Department of Labor statistics for the past two decades. But immigrant workers in the most dangerous occupations have not shared in the increased safety, according to statistics and a recent report by seven worker centers nationwide.
• Healthy and Safe Workplace Project - 03/22/11 Arise Chicago recently conducted a workplace health and safety survey of over 200 workers. These surveys were complied into a report detailing workplace conditions. See the full report here.
• Safety Hazards Plague Low-Wage Workers - 03/10/11 Low-wage workers across great Chicago receive inadequate safety training and equipment, leading to preventable on-the-job injuries and unhealthy work environments, a new survey finds.
• CARWASHERO BEATS WAGE THEFT AT A LOCAL CAR WASH - 03/07/11 And sometimes, it all comes together Hannibal Smith from the A-Team style. Arise Chicago’s latest action to improve conditions of work in the carwash industry on Monday, February 28th was one of those moments when it all came together.
• Payday roulette - 03/01/11 Ortiz and her co-workers at ASI have been getting late paychecks for the past two years. In some cases, management held lotteries to determine who got paid or made workers beg for their checks, employees said.
• U of C Medical Center Vigil - 03/01/11 Members of Chicago’s South Side community will join with University of Chicago nurses to fight for healthcare justice. More info here.
• WeAreOne Flyer - 03/01/11 Information on the April 9, 2011 WeAreOne rally.
• Crain's investigation: Unpaid wages a growing problem for Chicago-area workers - 12/13/10 Read the Crain's investigative story and watch the video on wage theft happening in Chicago.
• Chicago Worker Fights Back Against Wage Theft - 11/22/10 Read the Chicago Reporter article on Arise Chicago's campaign against a local car wash that's underpaying its workers. Check out the video too!
• Car Wash Worker Victorious - 11/18/10 Thanks to the courage of one worker, and wide community, religious, academic, and labor support, one local car wash received a clear message today to clean up its dirty labor practices.
• Car Wash: Wage Theft as ‘Industry Standard’ - 11/17/10 Read about Arise Chicago's National Day of Action Against Wage Theft target: a local car wash, and how the wage theft happening there is sadly a common practice.
• Chicago Charter School Teachers, with Community Support, Draw Close to Winning Union - 11/15/10 Charter School Teachers at Chicago Math and Science Academy have found support from Arise Chicago and surrounding community in their campaign to organize a union at their school. Read their story here.
• Arise Chicago Worker Member Residences through 2010 - 11/02/10 A map demonstrating where Arise Chicago Worker Center members reside.
• Arise Chicago Worker Member Residences through 2010 - 11/02/10 A map demonstrating where Arise Chicago Worker Center members reside.
• The Gulen Movement Article - 11/01/10 With sponsorship from the Niagara Foundation, the Gulen movement is holding its 2010 International Gulen Conference at the University of Chicago Nov. 11-13. Organizing teachers from Chicago Math and Science Academy are requesting a meeting with the Niagara Foundation’s leadership to express their concerns.
• Workplace Justice Campaign Map through 2010 - 11/01/10 A visual demonstration maps out all the Worker Justice Campaigns low-wage workers have launched with Arise Chicago by city ward.
• Latino youth speak out against Arizona immigration law - Chicago Muckrakers - 10/13/10 "Organizers from the Chicago-based student group Immigrant Youth Justice League took their message of "undocumented and unafraid" back to the streets, this time in Pilsen, to protest Arizona's newest immigration law."
• Latino youth speak out against Arizona immigration law - Chicago Muckrakers - 10/13/10 "Organizers from the Chicago-based student group Immigrant Youth Justice League took their message of "undocumented and unafraid" back to the streets, this time in Pilsen, to protest Arizona's newest immigration law."
• Latino youth speak out against Arizona immigration law - Chicago Muckrakers - 10/13/10 "Organizers from the Chicago-based student group Immigrant Youth Justice League took their message of "undocumented and unafraid" back to the streets, this time in Pilsen, to protest Arizona's newest immigration law."
• Richard Trumka's keynote address - 10/02/10 Read AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka's keynote address at our Faith-Labor-Action Breakfast this year.
• Ten Things the Past Can Teach Us Today - 09/02/10 Ten lessons from The Nation. Be sure to check out number 6!
• ‘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.
• Immigrant workers more likely to get stiffed on wages - 04/22/10 According to a study by the University of Illinois at Chicago published this month, foreign-born workers are 1½ times more likely than U.S.-born workers to receive less than the minimum wage.
• 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.
• When’s a Worker a Contractor? When the Boss Wants to Cheat. - 04/05/10 Worker centers, like Chicago's Arise, are striking back at employers who cheat employees by labeling them "independent contractors," and are finding support from lawmakers keen to haul in tax-shirking employers.
• 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.
• Feds to Launch Wage Theft Drive Here - 03/31/10 U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis will visit Hull House tomorrow to launch a new campaign – developed in consultation with workers and advocates in Chicago — to promote public awareness on wage theft.
• 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.