Clergy, community, and labor have come together to assert that Chicago residents need good jobs with living wages and benefits, especially at this time when many have to do with less.  Responsible corporate neighbors providing good jobs is key to enabling hard-working people to care for their families, and lift themselves out of poverty.

Many claim the recession is over, but Chicago’s working families continue to struggle.  People on Main Street continue to suffer layoffs and high unemployment.  11.2% of city residents are currently unemployed with Black communities facing almost double the rate of unemployment as Whites and Latinos being disproportionally impacted as well.  Many others work jobs with wages under the federal poverty standards.

Large retailers like Wal-Mart want to expand into Chicago and claim more lucrative consumer markets.  It is able to think about expansion during these hard times because it still sees profits increasing compared to its competitors and making over $400 billion in sales. 

Jobs are needed in the city, but not just any will do. 

As a coalition, we are fighting for a legally enforceable agreement to promote:

• Workers receive living wages and health benefits
• Newly constructed stores bring full-time positions
• Retailers hire local residents
• All applicants receive honest and fair consideration for employment
• Retailers include locally made products on their shelves

Our coalition sees the great opportunity to invest in our city by transforming job quality and city development, especially in communities of color who have been hardest hit by the recession.  No one should work a full-time job, and still be poor.  Chicago’s neighborhoods cannot be improved unless residents have good jobs and decent benefits.

Communities across Illinois have been hit hard by the current economic crisis. Closing and vastly under-funded schools, shut down community health clinics, and more new families than ever applying for food stamps illustrate how working families have been hit throughout the state. The state faces an incredible $11.5 billion dollar deficit by the end of the next fiscal year – and this number continues to grow. Illinois ranks near the bottom of all states for equitable education funding. The convenient answer that more cuts are what is needed is in fact not a real solution for our children and their families.

The current fiscal crisis makes it more apparent than ever that Illinois' tax system is in need of major reform. Illinois has the fifth lowest income tax burden and is one of the few states in the country with a flat tax. To address our budget crisis, and to resolve the unfair burden our current system places on low and moderate income families, we are participating in the Campaign for Illinois' Future.

In order for Illinois to have a tax system that meets the state's structural needs for funding, we must raise the income tax. Vital social services – including education, healthcare, and basic human needs – are in immediate danger of facing drastic cuts unless new, reliable revenue is generated. To prevent deep cuts to programs that serve our children, older adults, and individuals with disabilities, we need to raise revenue to close the gap.

The Grassroots Collaborative is a key member of Communities for an Equitable Olympics (CEO) 2016. CEO 2016 is a coalition of community and labor organizations working to ensure that Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Games leads to equitable policy changes for low-income and working families. The Collaborative is working with CEO 2016 to make sure that community residents have a real voice in the process of planning for the Games. CEO 2016 is working to win a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) that ensures equitable policies around affordable housing, jobs and economic development, and transportation.

In 1998, the Grassroots Collaborative organized with our allies to pass the original Living Wage ordinance to increase the minimum wage for contracted employees of the City of Chicago. We won a subsequent campaign to index increases to cost of living adjustment.

We marched in Chicago with fellow organizations supporting Comprehensive Immigration Reform in 2000. Over 10,000 people were firmly joined together in the belief that undocumented immigrants deserve humanitarian consideration and treatment.

The Collaborative networked with statewide groups to extend insurance coverage to the children of the working poor, increasing eligibility for an estimated 170,000 additional kids. Together, we negotiated with Illinois government entities to address unfair denial of state services to qualified Illinois families.

From 2002 to 2004, the Grassroots Collaborative coordinated resources across Illinois to present an economic package of housing, healthcare, immigrants' rights, highway safety, jobs and income supports to state legislators. Our effort resulted in a 4,000 person march in Springfield to hold the state legislators and the governor accountable to their constituents. Two outcomes of this campaign were the restoration of state funding for certain local education programs and In-State Tuition rates for undocumented college students.

In 1998, the Grassroots Collaborative organized with our allies to pass the original Living Wage ordinance to increase the minimum wage for contracted employees of the City of Chicago. We won a subsequent campaign to index increases to cost of living adjustment.