Public Forum Retail Workers of the World, Unite

Time: July 22, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Location: DePaul University Downtown Campus 1 E Jackson St. at State, Chicago: 11th floor, Room 11013

Forum: Retail Workers of the World Unite

Wednesday, July 22 @7pm

DePaul Center Downtown (1 E. Jackson/Jackson and State)

11^th floor (elevators located behind the Barnes and Noble)

Featuring guest speakers: * Martin Unzueta (Chicago Workers Collaborative*) * Adam Turl (writer for Socialist Worker and International Socialist Review on labor issues) * Joe Tessone (Logan Square Starbucks Workers Union*) *organizations listed for identification only…

About the forum:

Over the past three decades the U.S. workforce has changed dramatically. In the 1950s the largest employer in the U.S. was General Motors (GM). GM's manufacturing workers—in part because of their then strong union—were able to negotiate increases in wages and benefits that often provided a modestly better standard of living than the previous generation.

Today, the largest employer in the country is the anti-union Wal-Mart. With the decline of unions and industry, more and more workers are employed in low wage service and retail jobs. Less than 5 percent of retail workers belong to a union—exposing them to a failing economy, an unemployment rate passing 9.5 percent, and employers seeking to exploit a weak labor market.

But some retail workers are fighting back—like workers who have formed the Starbucks Workers Union, and those who have tried to organize Wal-Mart and similar big box retail stores. Come to this forum to discuss the failure of the low wage economy and what we can do to fight back.

This forum is sponsored by: International Socialist Organization