Supporters of living wage for airport workers meet Nov. 1 at Roosevelt University's Gage Gallery

An educational forum about the need for a living wage and stable jobs for all employees who work at concessions at O’Hare and Midway airports will be held at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 1 at Roosevelt University’s Gage Gallery, 18 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago.

Madeline Janis, co-founder and executive director of the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, will speak about the success of living-wage initiatives that have been put in place at 18 airports across the nation, including at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

The event also will feature the personal stories of Chicago’s airport workers, who may be in jeopardy of losing their jobs as the city of Chicago moves ahead with plans to enter into new contracts for airport concessions at Midway and O’Hare.
Faculty members from eight Chicago-area colleges and universities also will be on hand to discuss the economic impact of low wages/job loss at Chicago’s airports, and will make the case for the proposed Stable Jobs, Stable Airports ordinance, which would pay $11.18 an hour and give job security to approximately 1,500 employees who are currently working at O’Hare and Midway Airport concessions.
 
“Anyone paying attention to what’s going on in this country and in our city knows that there is a massive discrepancy with regard to wealth,” said Erik Gellman, assistant professor of history at Roosevelt University and one of the organizers of the Nov. 1 event.

“We’ve got to have a living wage for workers if we are to restore the middle class,” added Gellman, who is among 150 Chicago-area faculty members signing on to the Stable Jobs, Stable Airports initiative. “We regard this proposal as the first step toward a living wage for all, and encourage the Chicago City Council to move ahead and approve it,” he added.

The event is sponsored by the Chicago Committee for Working-Class Studies, the Mansfield Institute for Social Justice and Transformation at Roosevelt University and participating faculty members at University of Chicago, Roosevelt University, Loyola University, DePaul University, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Illinois at Champaign, Northwestern University and Dominican University.