To show solidarity with Chicago teachers, fast-food workers in that city went on stirke. The workers joined the Chicago Teachers Union for their “Day of Action” to fight for funding for Chicago’s public schools.
Chicago teachers called for the one-day strike to demand an end to a budget stalemate in the Illinois state government and bring attention to poverty and racial justice issues in Chicago. The day of action included picketing, a “teach-in” with American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and a rally on the campus of Chicago State University.
Solo Littlejohn, a fast-food worker, said in a statement, “$368 million in Illinois alone is spent by taxpayers like me every year, to support public assistance programs.” Despite working, Littlejohn still relies on government assistance programs. “Those dollars can instead be used to fund our schools and other community resources that we so desperately need,” his statement contined.
Fast-food workers want a $15 an hour minimum wage and the right to form a union. They also demand that the $368 million taxpayers pay to subsidize fast-food corporations be used for schools and community programs.
“I’m going on strike for the first time on April 1 because McDonald’s needs to pay their fair share to the economy,” said Tatiana De La Cruz, a McDonald’s worker and student at Wright College, in a statement. “At $10 an hour, I shouldn’t be on public assistance. There shouldn’t be such a thing as ‘the working poor.’”
According to fast-food worker activists, 51 percent of fast-food workers rely on public assistance programs to supplement their low wages.
“When workers get paid higher wages and have union rights, it benefits everyone,” stated Littlejohn. “The fight for $15 has always been a fight for funding, and that’s why we’re standing with the Chicago Teachers Union and the entire community on April 1.”
