Chicago 'street heat' pushes $250 billion jobs bill

by Scott Marshall

This article was reprinted from the March 15, 1997 issue of the People's Weekly World. For subscription information see below. All rights reserved - may be used with PWW credits.

CHICAGO - Calling the Martinez public works jobs bill (HR- 950) "the only bill in Congress which can deal with the problem of welfare reform," Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), along with numerous elected officials and labor and community leaders, launched a "street heat" campaign to demand the 105th Congress pass the bill.

"We're sending a message to President Clinton, the Republican-led Congress, Gov. Jim Edgar, Mayor Daley and all who have any powers to remedy this appalling and threatening assault upon millions of American people that we're taking this fight to the streets because the welfare reform bill doesn't provide any real jobs!" Rush told a press conference last weekend.

Holding two press conferences and leading a march of more than 500 people in downtown Chicago, Rush announced that this campaign could culminate in a "national march on Washington for jobs" this summer, coinciding with the anniversary of 1963's historic civil rights march led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Rush said the Congressional Black Caucus is now discussing this.

"We want real jobs at real wages!" chanted hundreds of demonstrators at the spirited March 10 rally. Rush and Rep. Danny Davis, who are both cosponsors of HR-950, led the march along with Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. The march started at the Illinois State Building, went past city hall and ended up at the federal building.

"We marched four blocks, but we're going to have to march many more miles to get [the Martinez Jobs Bill] passed," Rush said. "This is just the beginning."

State Senator Ricky Hendon drew loud cheers and applause from the crowd when he said, "The debate on welfare reform is not over until we hear from America's working families"

Tashema Lindsey, a 20-year-old African American on welfare, also drew cheers when she said, "We have to fight for jobs ourselves, not depend on even the good Congressmen up here with us. The welfare bill is not even about saving money, it's about stealing money from easy targets. African American, Latino and whites all have a stake in this fight. Together we can win a real jobs bill."

Tom Balanoff, chair of Chicago Jobs with Justice and president of SEIU Local 73, told the cheering crowd, "The labor movement is here to march with you anywhere, any time in the fight for real jobs at real livable wages. We're here sending a message to Gingrich, Lott and the Congress that we think it's time they started paying more attention to providing for the welfare of working people and quit worrying about Wall Street and LaSalle Street (Chicago's financial district)."

Rep. Davis said, "It's time to tell corporate America we want jobs at real wages. Not $5 an hour, but real jobs that make enough to support our families."

Several times the speakers were interrupted with chants of "Bobby for Mayor," alluding to rumors that Rush is considering a run against incumbent Richard Daley.

As one trade unionist in the crowd put it, "If Bobby Rush wants to run for mayor on the platform of the Martinez Bill and fighting for good jobs at union wages, then he's got my vote. It sure beats Mayor Daley's moves to privatize us all out of a job."

Other speakers at the rally included Jackson; Jarvis Williams, vice president of the Chicago Federation of Labor; David Orr, Cook County Clerk; John Donahue, president of the Chicago Coalition of the Homeless, and community, religious and labor leaders.

Organizations participating in the rally and march included the Rainbow Coalition, Jobs with Justice, SEIU Locals 73 and 46, the Teamsters and Teachers unions, welfare rights organizations, several NAACP branches, ACORN, the Living Wage Campaign, public housing and tenants rights organizations and the Communist Party of Illinois.

In closing the rally Bobby Rush said, "This is only the beginning. We will march next week, we will march next month, we will march as often as it takes to pass the Martinez jobs bill. Throwing people off of welfare without providing jobs is like trying to fly a plane without wings. It won't fly; it won't work."