***CHICAGO FAST FOOD WORKERS TO CONTINUE PROTESTS AT 2827 S. CICERO AVE***

***Update: Rep. Luis Gutierrez and Rep. Jan Schakowsky Join Worker Strikers at Cicero Location***

CHICAGO-23 Chicago Fast Food workers were arrested this morning after engaging in civil disobedience in front of a McDonald's and Burger King located at 29 E. 87th St. Approximately 500 community, religious, and labor supporters joined the workers in the rally, as well as Alderman Alderman Sawyer of the 6th Ward and Alderman Muñoz of the 22nd ward and workers and union representatives from Brazil, Colombia, and Argentina.

"We are doing whatever it takes because we can’t wait any longer," said Brittney Berry, a mother of a 2-year-old daughter and McDonald's employee. "We never stop trying to get back on our feet, even when hard times knock us down. My family can’t wait any longer. I know we are so close to winning and that’s why I’m going to continue fighting until the end." Brittney was among the workers who were arrested.

Chicago fast food workers will continue their strike at a McDonald's at 2827 S. Cicero Ave. They will be joined by Rep. Luis Gutierrez and Rep. Jan Schakowsky.

More updates to follow.

PRESS ADVISORY for THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 12:30PM

Local Media Contact: Deivid Rojas, 312-219-0008, Deivid@fightfor15.org

National Media Contact: Laura Brandon, 202-641-8477, laura.brandon@berlinrosen.com,

#StrikeFastFood

CHICAGO FAST FOOD WORKERS TO STRIKE AS FIGHT FOR $15 AND UNION RIGHTS INTENSIFIES

Local McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s Workers Among Those in 150+ Cities Expected To Walk Off Their Jobs

Home Care Workers to Join Growing Movement For Higher Pay

CHICAGO– Coming off a convention at which they vowed to do “whatever it takes” to win $15 and the right to form a union, Chicago fast-food workers will walk off their jobs Thursday as their movement intensifies and continues to spread.

A day after President Obama highlighted their campaign in a Labor Day speech, workers said they will strike at Chicago’s major fast-food restaurants, including McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s. Clergy, elected officials and community supporters, including Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Illinois' 4th congressional district, Alderman Sawyer of the 6th Ward and Alderman Muñoz of the 22nd ward, and workers and union representatives from Brazil, Colombia, and Argentina will join fast-food workers on the strike lines.

Inspired by the actions of fast-food workers, home care workers have decided to join nationwide movement for higher pay and better rights on the job. In several cities, including Chicago, both nonunion and union home care workers will join striking fast-food workers, as the Fight for $15 spreads to a new, fast-growing service industry.

Follow all of the nationwide action on strike day at www.strikefastfood.org and #StrikeFastFood

WHO: Hundreds of McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King workers; Francis Cabrera, Unionized McDonald’s worker from Argentina; Lucilene Binsfied, Edwin Villamil, Jadir Rafael da Silva, Jadir Rafael da Silva, Marcelo Gasso, Roosevelt Silva, and Edio Dos Santos, Union representatives from Brazil, Colombia, and Argentina; Local Home Care Workers; Community Supporters; Clergy; Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Illinois' 4th congressional district; Alderman Sawyer of the 6th Ward and Alderman Muñoz of the 22nd Ward

WHAT: Fast-Food Worker Strike

WHEN/WHERE:

Thursday, September 4

12:30 PM *Speak Out and Strike Protest

McDonald's

2827 S. Cicero Ave

*Rep. Gutierrez joins workers and protest

Thursday’s strike comes a little more than a month after the National Labor Relations Board’s general counsel determined that, despite McDonald’s repeated claims, the company is a joint employer that exerts substantial power over its employees’ working conditions. For nearly two years, McDonald’s and other fast-food workers have been joining together and going on strike, calling for $15 and the right to form a union without retaliation. But time and time again, the company and other industry players have tried to sidestep workers’ calls, inventing a make-believe world in which responsibility for wages and working conditions falls squarely only on the shoulders of franchisees, not the corporations that control how food is served and priced.

As corporations push down real wages for average American workers, a growing number of economists warn that low wages are a barrier to growth that are harming the overall U.S. economy.

A campaign that started in New York City in November 2012, with 200 fast-food workers walking off their jobs demanding $15 and the right to form a union without retaliation, has since spread to more than 150 cities in every region of the country, including the South. The growing fight for $15 has been credited with elevating the debate around inequality in the U.S. MSNBC’s Chris Hayes said that it has “entirely changed the politics of the country.” Since the campaign launched, nearly 7 million low-wage workers have seen their wages rise. What seemed like a far-fetched goal--$15 an hour—is now a reality in Seattle, where Bloomberg News said the city adopted “the rallying cry of fast-food workers.”

As it spreads, the movement is challenging fast-food companies’ outdated notion that their workers are teenagers looking for pocket change. Today’s workers are mothers and fathers struggling to raise children on wages that are too low. And they’re showing the industry that if it doesn’t raise pay, it will continue to be at the center of the national debate on what’s wrong with our economy.

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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 wage, more work hours, 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.