Voices of Stand Up! Chicago by Taylor Long
Thousands of protestors wielding signs, noisemakers and megaphones wound through downtown Chicago Tuesday in hopes of sending corporations a message — “Give Back Our Jobs, Homes and Schools.”
The rally, which was organized by Stand Up! Chicago and attended by several local unions, coincided with the CFO Executive Summit at the Hyatt Regency on East Wacker Drive. Here, protestors congregated with the support of Rev. Jesse Jackson and demanded entrance into the summit. After being denied entrance, 24 people were arrested in a peaceful sit-in demonstration that blocked traffic during rush hour.
Zulma Violeta Ortiz, a social studies teacher at Kennedy High School and member of the Chicago Teachers Union, was one of those arrested during the rally. She says she is tired of being denied pay increases and working under poor conditions.
“First they’re not paying any taxes and then to top that off, when we pay taxes, they get our money and then we get nothing in return,” Ortiz said. “We’re hoping to begin to open the minds of people and for people to start questioning the government and start to realize that there IS money, just poorly allocated.”
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