Bread for Ed and Med

We're back in action to support 5,000 workers ON STRIKE at University of Illinois, on campus and at the hospital and health system!

We are already using the money raised before and want to make sure we keep cash in hand to provide material support for workers striking for their lives and livelihoods which is just what is happening at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Read more about the UIC Strike: http://seiu73.org/2020/09/14/uic-we-are-going-to-strikeforourlives/

Follow SEIU Local 73 onFacebook  and Twitter  to stay up to date on the struggles, see video from members, and images of actions and picketing happening in Chicago, Peoria and Rockford.

1,400 RNS with the Illinois Nurses Association are also on strike at UIC!

https://illinoisnurses.com/news-events/chicago-tribune-strike-date-set-for-1300-university-of-illinois-hospital-nurses/


Chicago Public School (CPS) workers of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 73 have been bargaining with the City of Chicago for improvements to their working conditions and their schools. The Chicago Democratic Socialists of America and Chicago Jobs with Justice stand with CTU and SEIU Local 73 in their fight for:

Full staffing of social workers, nurses, counselors, and special education aides
Enforceable small class sizes
Clean and safe schools by ending the private contracting of school services to outside companies
Affordable housing
Sanctuary for immigrant students and families

The potential impending strike promises to be one of the largest in the modern history of Chicago.

With CTU and SEIU 73 focused on organizing their membership, one area of vital support that we can provide is coordinating efforts to feed students who will be denied the meals they would normally get in school for the duration of the strike. These efforts help build community support for the striking workers and demonstrate to City Hall that all Chicagoans are united in this fight. Similar Bread for Ed efforts across the country, including in the DSA chapters of Oakland and Los Angeles, have proved a vital form of support and good publicity for those strikes. We hope to accomplish something similar here.


Student meals will be a heavy lift but are absolutely necessary because so many children rely on their school lunch for their meals and because the city will likely use the lack of food for students as a cudgel against teachers and staff to break the strike.  In addition, many support staff, who are currently making poverty wages, often less than $20,000 a year, are making a significant sacrifice to win the schools our students need during this strike, and it will be important to make sure strikers don’t go hungry. Despite this we are hoping through partnerships with neighborhood organizations, aldermanic offices, churches, and local restaurants we can alleviate these problem. The places where this need is most critically felt is on the south and west sides of Chicago. 

We will also be providing meals at actions and rallies. Meals at direct actions will provide teachers and staff with the vital energy they need to keep the strike going until their demands are met. This can be met easily by working with food trucks to either purchase food ahead of time or donate their food