Raise Chicago, a coalition of community and labor organizations advocating a living wage in the city, held two press conferences this week as momentum builds for a minimum wage that will provide working families with the basic necessities of life, create jobs and stimulate the city’s economy. The press conferences follow the coalition’s passage of an advisory ballet initiative on March 18—with 87 percent voting in support of a $15 wage—and lay out next steps for making the wage a reality for Chicago’s working families.

On Election Day, March 18th, 2014, the Raise Chicago ballot referendum to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour for corporations that make over $50 million a year was passed with 87 percent support city-wide. Community leaders, volunteers and low wage workers in the Raise Chicago coalition have been working with Chicago Aldermen to develop an ordinance that would raise the minimum wage in Chicago to $15 an hour. For large corporations that make over $50 million a year there would be a phase in period of one year, while small and mid-sized businesses would have just over five years to increase their wages to $15 an hour. This ordinance will be entering City Council with a firm mandate from voters that it is time for elected officials to stand up for working families by creating a livable minimum wage that reflects the increasing costs of living in the city of Chicago.