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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
CONGRATULATING CHICAGO COMMUNITY AND WORKERS' RIGHTS (CCWR) ON ITS 10TH ANNIVERSARY
WHEREAS, Chicago Community and Workers' Rights (CCWR) was founded in June 2009 by a group of Latinx immigrant workers who saw a need for an organization dedicated to empowering workers to defend their rights; and
WHEREAS, CCWR is a worker-led organization that builds leadership and develops organizing tools and collective strategies against labor and immigrant rights abuses, towards just living conditions, shifting the balance of power to the workers; and
WHEREAS, CCWR works mainly with low-wage, Latinx immigrant workers, regardless of immigration status- over 90% are people with low income, and over half are women; and
WHEREAS, immigrant workers are 1.5 times more likely to experience minimum wage violations and face dangerous working conditions, making up 54% of the foreign-born population who die of work-related injuries, and therefore CCWR fights and advocates for their rights; and
WHEREAS, as only about fifteen percent of workers in Illinois are unionized, immigrant workers are vulnerable to threats from employers such as contacting immigration authorities on their statuses, which is why CCWR assists immigrant workers in overcoming such barriers and organizes them to advocate for their workplace rights and;
WHEREAS, with CCWR's support, workers have recovered stolen wages, organized for better working conditions and defended their jobs. Their work has led to changes at the city, county, and state level to address issues of exploitation and push for the collective self-determination of workers;
WHEREAS, in 2014, because of cases brought to the attention of the Illinois Department of Labor by CCWR, the implementation of three amendments to labor laws went into effect to make sure landscaping companies, and similarly structured companies, do not violate workers' rights.
WHEREAS, in 2015, after years of organizing and advocacy together wi...
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