For Immediate Release: April 5, 2023

Contact: Catherine Murrell, Catherine.Murrell@seiuhcil.org 

SEIU Healthcare Illinois: With New Era of Chicago’s City Council, We Have a Real Opportunity to Create Lasting Change for Working People

Greg Kelley, President of SEIU Healthcare Illinois, issued the following statement responding to the 2023 Chicago runoff election results: 

“Today marks a new era in Chicago politics. For the first time, the newest slate of our political leadership are community organizers, neighbors, parents, and working people with the lived experience needed to create lasting change for Chicago’s working families. And we wouldn’t be here without the multiracial coalition of working people who raised their voices to demand change. 

This victory didn’t happen overnight. For years, our union of 90,000 healthcare and child care workers have organized and worked in coalition with working people across our city. This election season, this coalition came together to turn out the vote for worker champions with bold, progressive policies that protect working families at every level of our city’s leadership.   

With this leadership shift, we have a real opportunity to make lasting change by passing laws that ensure workers are paid livable wages that keep up with inflation and families have access to affordable housing. We can make our communities safer by treating the root causes of crime and giving young people the resources they need to thrive – disrupting the cycle of poverty and creating generational change. Together, we can write a new story for working families in Chicago. 

We’re ready to get to work to continue advancing racial and economic justice for working people across Chicago hand-in-hand with the newly elected leaders.”

###