“As a 44-year-old man, making $8.25, living paycheck to paycheck and barely being able to survive just isn’t right. I love to cook. I love what I do for a living. That’s why we’re calling for fair wages for fast food workers in Chicago’s suburbs. From Oak Park to Cicero, to Sauk Village to Barrington Hills, we need this. That’s why we’re standing together in the suburbs and calling for $15. Suburban workers are struggling and we need higher wages so that we too can be part of the American dream.”—-Anthony Kemp, Oak Park IL KFC worker

Silence can be a powerful way to communicate a message. That was certainly true at the September 28 meeting of the Oak Park Illinois Village Board.After hearing 5 speakers representing the Fight for $15 movement speak about the importance of passing a Living Wage Ordinance in the town and the need for a $15 a hour minimum wage throughout Chicagoland, their heartfelt words were met with a perfunctory almost expressionless,”We really thank you for your thoughts,” from the Mayor and silence from the rest of the Village Board.

The Oak Park Village Board would not even summon up a few pious platitudes of encouragement to the workers and community allies who filled the meeting while their representatives took to the podium.