Best of: What effect is Illinois’ rising minimum wage actually having?
In this Sept. 14, 2014, file photo, protesters participate in a rally on Chicago's south side as labor organizers escalate their campaign raise the minimum wage for employees to $15 an hour. M. Spencer Green/AP, file
As Illinois' minimum wage continues its slow rise to $15, many questions still linger about the state of the minimum wage here. Has it affected businesses in a negative way, as some critics of the 2019 proposal worried it would? What has it meant for working people in Illinois? And as the U.S. reckons with levels of inflation not seen since the 1980s, will $15 an hour be enough by the time the minimum wage reaches that level here?
To discuss these questions and more, The 21st was joined by the CEOs of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association and the Shriver Center on Poverty Law, as well as a worker who has been part of the Fight for 15 movement.
This conversation originally aired Jan. 31, 2023.
GUESTS:
Audra Wilson
President, CEO, Shriver Center on Poverty Law
Rob Karr
President, CEO, Illinois Retail Merchants Association
Tyree Johnson
Retail worker – overnight sales clerk, 7-11 in Wicker Park, Chicago
Prepared for web by Owen Henderson
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