The report, Challenging the Business of Fear, features first-of-its-kind research based on surveys and interviews with nearly 300 workers employed in a broad cross-section of Illinois’ low-wage industries. Collaborators, Raise the Floor Alliance, a coalition of Chicago-area worker centers, and the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI), captured what happened when these workers were injured or tried to address abuse at work.

Read the full report below

Read the Executive Summary here

Chicago's Growing Low-Wage Workforce | Marc Doussard, Ph.D

Worker Centers: Organizing Communities at the Edge of the Dream | Janice Fine 

Unregulated Work in Chicago: The Breakdown of Workplace Protections in the Low-Wage Labor Market | Nik Theodore et al., 2010

Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers: Violations of Employment & Labor Laws in America's Cities | Annette Bernhardt et al., 2009

Retaliation Survey and Interview Documentation Tools (English, Spanish)

Denied Dignity at Work in Illinois: An Initial Report of Findings

Denied Dignity at Work in Illinois: Initial Research Findings (Pamphlet)

Protect Temp Workers Who Blow the Whistle

Government-Community Workplace Partnerships in Enforcement

The Abuse that Keeps Wage Theft in the Dark

Raise the Floor and Build Ladders: Workforce Strategies Supporting Mobility and Stability for Low-Income Workers | Maureen Conway & Steven L. Dawson

MEDIA ADVISORY

MEDIA ADVISORY FOR MAY 18^th, 2017

Media Contact:     Joanna Arellano, Raise the Floor Alliance  

Phone: 773.934.1511 /  jarellano[at]raisetheflooralliance[dot]org  / @RaisetheFloor

 Widespread Workplace Violations in Illinois Breeding a Climate of Fear and Illegality

Workers Release New Report and Call on Local, State Reps to Act in Trump Era

Temp Work Now a Permanent Fixture, Creating Problems for ‘Invisible’ Workforce

by JAKE HELLER and ERIK ORTIZ | August 31st, 2017