Maybe the pilots should show up en masse when they show up at United. Pilots supporting school kids, united with teacher labor, message to corporate. It could be a trifecta photo op.
"Corporate Welfare Tour" Hits Chicago Mercantile Exchange; United Up Next
In their latest movement against “corporate welfare,” local community leaders lead by the Grassroots Collaborative hit the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
With 10 children in school desks on the sidewalk on Monroe Street near Wacker Drive in Chicago, the so-called “street-theater” demonstration was staged as a class. Its main lesson: how tax increment financing takes away money from schools.
About forty people protested the Chicago Mercantile Exchange this morning, according to organizers, because the company was paid $15 million from the LaSalle/Central TIF district, despite profits hitting $951 million last year. The TIF money was allegedly spent to renovate the Chicago Board of Trade’s bathrooms.
Teachers, parents and many from the Chicago Teachers Union rallied on the principle that it is wrong to take taxpayer money from public education to benefit private multi-million dollar corporations, like the CME.
“I was a teacher for more than 20 years. I loved my job and I loved my students,” Maria Marquez, a laid-off teacher said. “How can they lay us off and tell us there’s no money, then turn around and give $15 million to the CME? Kids and education should come first.”
Thursday’s event is one of multiple visits the Grassroots Collaborative is spearheading as part of its “Corporate Welfare Tour.” United Airlines and Miller Coors can both expect a visit in the near future, the collaborative's Ashley Moy-Wooten said.
"Corporate Welfare Tour" Hits CME; United, MillerCoors Up Next (VIDEO) (UPDATED) | Progress Illinois