News…
From State Representative Litesa Wallace
For Immediate Release:
May 4, 2017
Wallace, Local Workers Speak Out against Governor's Push for Sweatshop Economy
ROCKFORD, Ill. – Local workers joined state Rep. Litesa Wallace, D-Rockford, Thursday at the E.J. "Zeke" Giorgi Center to discuss the harsh consequences workers would face if the governor's corporate agenda were to be put into action.
"We cannot willfully push Illinois into a race to the bottom," Wallace said. "I support plans that will build our economy by lifting up the middle class and our most vulnerable, not proposals that will enrich corporate CEOs by reducing the wages and workplace protections for our hard-working residents."
Surrounded by local workers, Wallace discussed how agendas similar to the governor's have been implemented in other states, with devastating consequences for working men and women. She pointed to recent media attention directed at Alabama, a state which has enacted legislation similar to what Governor Rauner continues to pursue. In Alabama, lax safety laws and decreased wages have created a sweatshop-type environment, where the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that workers are twice as likely to be killed on the job compared to Illinois.
"This isn't a game, Governor. People's lives are on the line," said Josh Randazzo, who was injured in a workplace accident. "Bruce Rauner's agenda would create a sweatshop economy, where people like me are going to be hurt or even killed on the job, and their families will be left with nowhere to turn."
Wallace believes that Illinois can improve its economy through other means, and has backed plans that would close corporate loopholes, cut taxes for small businesses, increase the minimum wage and extend tax credits that encourage local investment.
"The governor says one thing when he's traveling around the state campaigning, but when you look at what his agenda has actually done when put in place in other states, it's clear that his only goal is to further enrich big businesses, no matter what it costs our families," said John Gedney, UAW Rockford Area CAP Chairman.
For more information, please contact Wallace's constituent service office at 815-987-7433 or at litesa@staterepwallace.com.
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