I am a service industry employee that has been impacted by the Covid-19 business closures in the City of Chicago*. With restaurant and bar closures Monday we saw panic, layoffs, relief funds, and desperate attempts to kill off the last of inventory (and make a few more dollars) via adhoc pick-up and delivery options. Then came Friday's announcement from Governor Pritzker that the state was closing all non-essential businesses. By 5:30 PM I received an email from One Off Hospitality saying that all hourly non-exempt employees were fired, and will be considered “priority consideration” if and when re-hiring occurs. In response you may have seen the #toosmalltofail and #saverestaurants posts circulating related to the decimation of the local restaurant scene, and rallying support for small businesses. *
In 1871, 3.3 square miles of Chicago burned to the ground over three days.
In Chicago we have seen the roll out of The Chicago Small Business Resiliency Fund, and SBA loans will be accessible to many across the nation, both of which are low-, but not No- interest loans to small businesses. Unfortunately, these loans have no clear timeline for delivery of funds and will most likely not reach businesses in time. Most of the large restaurant groups as well as smaller independent restaurants in the city have made similar layoffs to mine, and many are teetering on the edge of bankruptcy as we speak. If Chicago wants to have it's bars and restaurants to return to, and a community of industry workers to run them, then local and federal governments will need to act swiftly to shore up the industry and its workers. (That being said, I also hope that this crisis brings attention to the industry's reliance on, and exploitation of a vulnerable class of workers.) We want temporary and immediate solutions, but also want to see them transitioned into permanent change.
After the fire 100,000 citizens were left homeless.
This is not just a fight for the restaurant industry's survival, it is a precedent setting fight to demand action from the government and demand it immediately. This is a fight for small businesses as a whole, and the many low-income/seasonal/service employees that work for them. The death of small businesses is not just disappointing for owners, or harmful to the economy. This is a window for power and capital to get even more concentrated within large corporations, and for workers rights to be further limited.
The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 had been the initial inspiration for me to write this piece. Conveniently Pritzker then mentioned it in his public address on Friday:
"About 150 years ago, the city of Chicago burned to the ground. When the ashes cleared, we passed laws requiring buildings be built with fireproof material. We invented skyscrapers. Chicago went from a small Midwest town to one of the biggest cities in the United States. And just to make a point, we built the Chicago Fire Academy on the very spot where the Great Chicago Fire started burning."
Chicago did rebuild, but there’s a bit more to the story. After the fire there were more restrictive rules put into place regarding zoning and the use of non-flammable brick and stone building materials within the city limits. This led to the displacement of poorer Chicagoans only able to rebuild their homes using wood to move outside of the fire limits. The loop was expanded through the bulldozing of ruins into the lake and the fire cleared the way of small buildings and owners. This allowed for those with greater resources to literally take over property by being the first to lay claim and start building. The Great Chicago Fire disproportionately affected the poorest citizens, resulted in greater economic and racial segregation, and created greater consolidation of wealth, and power.
"The period of the Great Rebuilding came to a close with the Panic of 1873, which proved to be a more serious detriment to the local economy than the fire. By December the unemployed were chanting ‘Bread or death’ outside the offices of the Relief and Aid Society”. (Chicago History Museum)
I wonder if Pritzker would still think the fire was a charming touchpoint of civic pride.
Disasters provide an opportunity for change, for rebuilding. Most of our lives have already significantly changed and will never be the same from this point on. It may be time to start thinking - What do we want to rebuild and how? We can come out of this with a greater concentration than ever of power and wealth in the 1%, or fight for greater distribution of resources in the 99%. We need temporary and immediate solutions to support small businesses and the most vulnerable Americans, but we also need the Covid-19 crisis to result in significant PERMANENT changes to healthcare, unemployment, PTO, minimum wage, student debt and more.
Even though we may be stuck in our homes we are still capable of influencing change and organizing. We have a captive audience, we have artists and academics and writers capable of captivating. In this chaos there is great potential, we just haven’t dreamed up how to activate it yet.
What can be done:
Call your Representative and your Senators. You can be connected to the capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121. Demand that independent businesses are part of the federal stimulus plan. Encourage them to pass the Main Street Emergency Grant Program.
Sign the Change.org Petition
Read something, write something, share something
Donate directly to a restaurant you know people at, or that you frequent.
Donate to the Restaurant Workers Relief Fund at https://leeinitiative.org/
Consider grabbing a T-shirt from Chicago Hospitality United
Notes:
* I am lucky to have additional contract jobs as an educator so for now I am ok. Thank you for asking.
* Here is the message being passed around with #toosmalltofail:
This week tens of thousands of independent restaurants were forced to close their doors in the fight against COVID-19. In just a matter of days, millions of restaurant industry workers in America lost their jobs. How will these workers, who did nothing wrong themselves, pay rent, care for children, and feed themselves and their families? And what will happen to the independent businesses— the diners, bars, cafes, and restaurants— that make our towns and cities the places we love?
You can help. We have asked our leaders to pass legislation funding the comeback of our industry. We know they’re working hard on a stimulus bill. But it won’t help if this plan doesn’t reach your neighbors. Please call your representative and senators and insist that help be given not just to big corporations but to independent businesses as well. This is the only way to protect the people and places you love. We simply will not make it without your help.
Call your Representative and your Senators. You can be connected to the capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121. Demand that independent businesses are part of the federal stimulus plan.
#toosmalltofail #saveamericasrestaurants
* This whole thing is decently well researched but I’m new to this so bear with me. I have spared you the excess of linked resources but if you are interested in more info, have a correction, or just want to argue with me, feel free to get in touch!