MARSEILLES – The Marseilles community, along with a 90s rock band guitarist with roots in the area honored a union worker who was killed protesting for work.
In commemoration of Workers Day, city officials unveiled a roadside plaque honoring Steve Sutton, a local Joliet laborer who was shot protesting for fair wages and employment at the Marseilles Dam in 1932. Rage Against the Machine Guitarist, workers rights activist and Marseilles native Tom Morello was given a key to the city by Marseilles mayor Jim Hollenbeck for his support of union workers through his music. Morello put on rager of a show for the community playing songs like “Night Falls” and “Interstate -80”, that pay tribute to Sutton and union workers.
The incident that killed Sutton and injured 21 others, paved the way for the establishment of the Laborers Local 393. The event brought out officials like Governor J.B Pritzker, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raúl, Comptroller Susana Mendoza, and State Representative Lance Yednock. Sponsors included the Illinois State Historical Society, Illinois Labor Historical Society, Laborers Local 393, ULLICO Inc., and the Great Plains Laborers District Council.
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