Stand Up! Chicago and community and labor groups sent an open letter to Aldermen on Friday, January 13, expressing concern about proposed changes to city ordinances governing free speech rights in Chicago.
Check out the Huffington Post report, and a copy of the letter.
Stand Up! Chicago’s Week of Action in DC to Take Back the Capitol
At 7:30 Friday morning outside Teamster City, hundreds of bleary-eyed Stand Up! Chicago coalition members climbed slowly down from buses, their muscles aching after a 14-hour trek from the nation’s capitol. But while their bodies were sore and sleep-deprived, their spirits were high.
“In spite of the long ride there and back, and the rain and mud in Washington, I feel good because we sent a message to our elected officials and to all Americans that the time for change is now,” said Jose Tafoya, an unemployed Chicagoan.
The group departed Chicago at 5:30 a.m. Monday with a clear mission for the week: to send a message to Congress that our representatives need to stand up for the needs of the 99% by creating jobs, extending unemployment benefits, raising taxes on the rich, and rejecting budget cuts to essential services. Once in DC, they joined with thousands of others protesters from around the country for a week of action to Take Back The Capitol.
On Tuesday, Stand Up! Chicago occupied five Congressional offices, out of a total of 99 offices occupied simultaneously by jobless people from across the country. But the Congressmen did everything they could to avoid meeting or engaging with their constituents. Sen. Mark Kirk hid in his office. Rep. Don Manzullo hid in an elevator. Rep. Adam Kinzinger failed to come back from lunch. And Rep. Joe Walsh sneaked down the back stairs while his constituents asked him repeatedly to meet with them. Watch this video with highlights.
On Wednesday, the focus changed to corporate lobbyists, with Chicagoans playing a leading role in demonstrations and civil disobedience on K Street. “We went to protest at Verizon, but they were so scared of us that they had their doors locked and barricaded,” said Emily Henkels, an unemployed recent college graduate. “So we continued onto K Street.” Watch Stand Up! Chicago take K Street.
And on Thursday, Stand Up! Chicago led a dual protest at House Speaker John Boehner’s offices—with 99 unemployed protesters attempting to speak to the Speaker inside his offices and thousands more supporting them outside the building. Several Chicagoans were at the head of the internal delegation, knocking loudly at the Speaker’s locked doors, while other protesters from Chicago helped contain and direct the masses outside.
Check out Stand Up! Chicago on Facebook for more photos and videos.
The 99% are Headed to DC to Take Back the Capitol
Stand Up! Chicago is supporting the call for thousands of Americans to go to Washington, DC in the first week of December to make the voices of the 99% heard and counter the influence of the 1%.
We are joining the many community groups, unions, religious organizations, and unemployed workers going to the nation’s capital from December 5-9th to break the grip that corporate lobbyists have on Congress.
The problem in Washington is that too many members of Congress listen to the corporate lobbyists from K Street and their campaign contributions instead of the 99%. Now the 99% are coming to the corridors of power to make our presence felt.
Be one of the 99% coming to Washington! Go to www.99inDC.org for more information.
The Nov. 17 Jobs Not Cuts Day of Action Makes a BIG Impact
Check out photos and video of Thursday’s BIG Bridge Action — with 2,000+ protesting and 46 arrested!
Join Us for this DAY OF ACTION to Stop Budget Cuts and End Corporate Welfare! We’ll be meeting at Thompson Center Plaza (Randolph & Clark), where we’ll rally before setting off on a march to call for Jobs Not Cuts!
Together we’ll deliver a strong message: We need jobs for the 99% instead of corporate welfare handouts for big banks and businesses!
70 Stand Up! Chicago Protestors Disrupt Gov. Walker Speech on Budget “Reform”
View a YouTube Video of Stand Up! Chicago (Mic) Checking the Wisconsin Governor
Mark Your Calendar Now to Get Involved–Come to the 11/17 Jobs Not Cuts Day of Action!
Seventy Stand Up! Chicago protestors disrupted a 11/3 Scott Walker breakfast presentation on “Taxpayers, State Budget Reforms and the New Realities” at the Union League Club of Chicago in order to speak out against the Governor’s union-busting and job-killing policies.
Our protestors attending the breakfast comprised almost half the total number of attendees. After settling into breakfast, and listening to the Governor’s opening remarks, they delivered a prepared statement via “human mic.”.
“ It is an outrage and a shame,” the statement began, “that we sit at this fancy breakfast to listen to someone who has wreaked havoc on the lives of working families. Governor Walker has vilified unions and insulted the 99% who depend on living wages and adequate benefits to support their families, while on the payroll of the right wing billionaire Koch brothers.”
Walker called upon the rest of the crowd to drown out the voices of the protestors with loud clapping, but they managed to complete their statement and project their voices above the noise.
In a clear and unified voice, the protestors called for a rejection of Walker-style budget “reform” in Chicago and Illinois. The statement referenced efforts in Illinois by “corporations and bought-off politicians (who) clamor to find ways to grant a $100 million tax break to the Mercantile Exchange, one of the most profitable companies in the state, while social services are being slashed, while workers’ pensions are threatened, and homelessness, poverty, and joblessness continue to rise.”
