“In Chicago, 17 percent of city residents, or approximately 461,000 people, live below the poverty line. And that percentage is significantly higher for Chicago neighborhoods and demographics hardest hit by the War on Drugs. Recent reports also show that nearly half of the city’s young black men are neither in school nor in work — a number double the national rate. For young Latino men in Chicago, about 20 percent are not in school or employed.

“We cannot bring back our communities, our city or our state overall until we bring back working people’s wages and economic opportunity for our hardest-hit neighborhoods. That’s why Local 1 fought hard with advocates to ensure that the cannabis legalization measure includes provisions upholding labor-peace agreements between unions and corporations.

“The solution to rebalancing our economy — making it work for all members of our communities, not just the wealthy few — is good jobs and a union for all working people. Because no matter where we come from or the color of our skin, working people all want the same things: higher pay, thriving communities and a fair shot at a good future.”

Sun Times Op-Ed, 2/10/2020