Today, our Aldermen voted to raise the minimum wage to $13 in five years. I was one of many Chicagoans who worked with labor and community groups to raise the minimum wage, and I applaud the City Council for finally taking a step in the right direction, but I believe Chicago's working families deserve more than $13 an hour in five years.

If the minimum wage had kept pace with U.S. productivity it would have reached over $21 an hour today. Our families deserve a living wage of no less than $15 an hour now. By voting yes on amending the minimum wage ordinance, Alderman Rey Colon asked Chicagoans to wait five years for a $13 an hour minimum wage. Five years is too long, and it's made all the more offensive when you consider Alderman Colon will raise his own salary to $115,465 in just 29 days. Big corporations can more than afford to pay their workers a $15 an hour living wage today, but regular Chicagoans cannot afford politicians who don't put our families first.  

Today's vote deepened my resolve to win on February 24th and win a $15 an hour minimum wage for Chicago's workers.