For immediate release: Wednesday, June 23, 2021
Contact: Lori Simmons, 1-217-721-7527, loriann@thepeopleslobbyusa.org

Across Chicago, gig workers have united in anger about lack of safety and living wages on the job.

Chicago, IL — At the City Council meeting on Friday, June 25, Alderman Brendan Reilly of the 42nd Ward will introduce TNP Ordinance O2021-2877 to provide a living wage, better app security, and city oversight over deactivations for Chicago’s rideshare drivers, officially called TNP (Transportation Network Provider) drivers.

Lori Simmons, an organizer with The People’s Lobby, says, “We are excited that Alderman Reilly is motivated to provide protections for gig workers. We have been on the frontlines keeping the economy open throughout the pandemic, all while Uber and Lyft continually lowered our pay and did nothing to keep us safe on the job.”

Having spoken to thousands of gig workers around Chicago and the suburbs, Mike Crissman, a rideshare driver and member of The People’s Lobby, can confirm that an ordinance like this is what workers need. “Thankfully I am okay because of the divider I installed during COVID, but I was nearly carjacked two weeks ago,’ says Crissman. “It was a terrifying experience, and so many of us are afraid to drive. We need a comprehensive measure that will protect drivers and hold companies accountable to paying us what we deserve.”

“Included in this ordinance is a 25% cap on how much money the company can keep from a driver’s fare, a higher rate of pay, a public assistance fund for drivers, an appeals process for drivers who have been deactivated and stiff penalties for false accusations against drivers. To address safety, the ordinance will require passenger identification for all accounts, as well as mandating information be entered for passengers having a ride requested on their behalf. We need this to be comprehensive, and that’s what we will fight for from the grassroots,” says Brittany Spencer, a gig worker and member of The People’s Lobby.

“I was cut off from using the Uber app permanently when I was falsely accused of being intoxicated. I was never given the chance to prove my innocence or file an appeal, and essentially lost my job due to an unsubstantiated claim from a rider. This is not right. There needs to be accountability and transparency,” says Maurice Clark, a People’s Lobby member and rideshare driver. 

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On One-Year Anniversary of Cook County State’s Attorney’s Tenure, Report Evaluates Kim Foxx’s Progress on Campaign Reform Promises

Cook County State’s Attorney Kimberly Foxx took office one year ago after a landslide primary victory over incumbent Anita Alvarez followed by a decisive general election win, both driven by her platform of transparency, police accountability, and prosecutorial reforms that respect the rights of people facing trial.

A new report, “In Pursuit of Justice for All: An Evaluation of Kim Foxx’s First Year in Office,” assesses Foxx’s progress on keeping those campaign promises. Foxx has made substantial progress in reforming how her office makes recommendations on money bonds and charging decisions. She has also released substantial amounts of data for experts to review. Nevertheless, activists are looking for more progress on her pledges to treat drug use as a public health problem and consider the immigration consequences for undocumented individuals facing charges. Click here for a web resolution version of the report.

The report also details the institutional and political obstacles to Foxx’s reform agenda, highlights the work of community activists to hold her accountable to fulfilling campaign promises, and makes specific recommendations for Foxx’s second year in office.

As one of the several prosecutors elected on a reform platform in recent years, activists believe it’s critical that Foxx succeed in implementing her bold agenda. Advocates and grassroots organizations who endorsed Foxx are committed to holding her accountable through regular face-to-face meetings, regional town halls, and regular reports on her progress. Success in Cook County can serve as a model for the reform movement around the country.

“Black, Latinx and other poor communities of color have been ripped apart by the War on Drugs and a tough on crime mentality,” said Rev. Charles Straight, a leader with The People’s Lobby. “Hope and healing in our communities depends in large part on major reforms to the legal system, and that’s why we are so committed to holding Kim Foxx accountable to her campaign promises.”

“Kim Foxx has taken bold first steps down the long, slow road to reform of the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. In her first year, she has made significant changes in a number of areas that are already having positive impacts on individuals and entire communities,” said Sharlyn Grace, Senior Criminal Justice Policy Analyst at Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice. “Foxx has released significant amounts of data, making meaningful progress on her commitment to transparency. Foxx’s reforms in the areas of monetary bond and limitations on filing certain kinds of charges have helped to significantly reduce the number of people languishing in Cook County Jail while waiting for trial. Nevertheless, Foxx has yet to make meaningful progress on her campaign promises to treat drug use and addiction as public health problems or to develop guidelines on immigration consequences for consideration in the charging and sentencing of non-citizens. We look forward to working with and supporting her on both issues in the second year of her term.”

The report is authored by The People’s Lobby, Reclaim Chicago and Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice.

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Khlebnikov’s experiments in linguistic sound and form became known as “Zaum,” a word that can be translated as “transreason,” or “beyond sense.” He pioneered his techniques with another major Futurist poet, Aleksei Kruchenykh, who may have been, writes Monoskop, “the most radical poet of Russian Futurism.” The most famous name to emerge from the movement, Vladimir Mayakovsky, embodied Futurism’s confident individualism, his poetics “a mixture of extravagant exaggerations and self-centered and arduous imagery.” Mayakovsky made a name for himself as an actor, painter, poet, filmmaker, and playwright. Even Stalin, who would soon preside over the suppression of the Russian avant-garde, called Mayakovsky after his death in 1930 “the best and most talented poet of the Soviet epoch.”

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