Chicago, IL - On May 26, over 65 people, including many clerical workers who are members of IFT Local 1708, gathered at Malcom X College in Chicago. They came to address City Hall and the Board of Trustees for the City Colleges about recent policies that seek to further privatize city colleges. Chairman Martin Cabrera and other board members failed to show and the coalition to Save City Colleges was thrown out of the meeting space. This was the second time officials agreed to meet and hear the concerns of the community only to fail to follow through.

Professor Jessi Choe, a leader of the coalition, remarked “We can see very physically that this is what is happening…they have not heard our voices in over a year.” However, the crowd did not let their expulsion from Malcom X deter them from meeting with one another to discuss goals for the future of this movement. Together, they planned a rally for June 15 at noon in Daley Plaza. According to Viviana Moreno of Wright College Students for a Democratic Society, “Our fight will continue to save community colleges from becoming business models for the private corporations.”