BRONZEVILLE — Fast food cooks and cashiers from across the city rallied outside of a Bronzeville McDonald’s Tuesday.
The employees are a part of the "Fight for 15" campaign, which is seeking to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. In Illinois it’s $8.25, but the Chicago City Council raised it to $10 an hour in July. It’ll go up to $13 by 2019.
The current minimum wage is unlivable, workers say.
The nationwide strike took place in 270 cities. The walkout took place one year from the next presidential election. At the McDonald’s located at 207 E. 35th St. workers shared their struggles before marching to the Chicago Police Headquarters, 3510 S. Michigan Ave.
“I’m sitting here trying to fight for a better life for me and my kids,” said Michelle Louis, an Englewood resident. She works at a McDonald’s and says that as a single mother, she has to say ‘No,” to her children more than she’d like to.
“It pisses me off and it makes me sad,” Louis said. “Sometimes I sit and cry about it, but that’s why I’m here. I don’t want to cry anymore.”
Solo Littlejohn, a cook for a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Cicero, said he made a deal with his landlord so he doesn’t have to live on the street, but he’s still barely making it.
“I’ve had to make many sacrifices,” he said. “In fact, I do it with every paycheck. My rent is $950 a month, but I’m barely bringing in $600 a month.”
Bronzeville resident Mary Hood wants to give her daughter more, but has had to choose between paying the gas bill or enrolling her child in a school program that costs money.
“It really hurt me to the core to not be able to pay for her to be in this program,” Hood said. “All I want for her is to have everything she wants and everything she desires. If I have to tell her no, it makes me feel bad.”
The Fight for 15 Chicago group also marched and spoke at the James R. Thompson Center Tuesday evening.
A McDonald's spokesperson couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
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