In response to the Illinois General Assembly’s Passage of SB-81, which would gradually raise the state minimum wage to $15/hour, Chicago McDonald’s worker Adriana Alvarez, who is paid $11.00/hour, said on behalf of Fight for $15 Chicago:

“When fast-food workers in Chicago first joined the Fight for $15 more than four years ago, nobody believed we would get this far. But we didn’t have a choice – we knew $15/hour was what we needed to survive. Now, by joining together with other underpaid workers, speaking out, and going on strike, we’re closer than ever to winning $15/hour for 2.3 million workers in the state.

Gov. Rauner should sign the bill right away. It’s the right thing to do for workers like me, who work hard but can’t make enough to support our families. It’s the right thing to do for Illinois taxpayers, who subsidize the low wages of big corporations like McDonald’s by $5 billion per year. And it’s the right thing to do for our economy, because we’re going to take our raises and spend them at local businesses on groceries and other things we need.

Rauner should allow our state to join New York, California, Washington DC, and communities across the country that are saying $15/hour is the new national standard for wages. If he chooses to side with billionaire CEOs and stand in the way of a raise for 1 in 3 Illinois workers, he’ll find himself on the wrong side of workers, the wrong side of voters, and the wrong side of history.”