CHICAGO — Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders praised Starbucks and Amazon workers trying to unionize and railed against oil companies over high gas prices in a brief appearance in Chicago late Thursday.
The marquee speaker at a “Fighting Back Against Corporate Greed Rally” hosted by Teamsters and flight attendants unions, Sanders noted that gas prices are higher in Illinois than in his home state, and also that oil, food, pharmaceutical and insurance companies have recorded soaring profits this year.
“During this pandemic, during the breakdown of supply chains, during this terrible war in Ukraine, what the corporate world has done is use all of that to substantially raise prices in America,” Sanders told the crowd, going on to say he wants to pass a “windfall profits tax on those crooks.”
“Tonight, right here, in this great city, we’re bringing people together to tell the ruling class of this country we are sick and tired of their greed and we’re not asking anymore, we are telling them enough is enough,” he said.
The former Democratic presidential contender is on a swing through the Midwest. He was scheduled to appear Friday at rallies in Wisconsin and Iowa for striking workers at CNH Industrial plants.
And then Saturday, Sanders returns to Chicago, where he’s due to appear at a rally for two congressional contenders in Illinois’ June 28 Democratic primary: Delia Ramirez for the 3rd Congressional District and Jonathan Jackson, son of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, in the 1st District.
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