Led by City Bureau’s senior reporter Sarah Conway, four emerging reporters learned about worker experiences at staffing agencies, coalitions pushing for state-wide policies and regulations, and efforts from workers and advocates to reduce racial tensions. (Photo: Sebastián Hidalgo/City Bureau)
As the industry grows, worker advocates say it is ever more important to fix some of the issues they have been fighting against, including racial discrimination, wage theft and permatemping. Lee en español.
The temp industry can be improved by teaching workers their rights, holding companies accountable and by enforcing and strengthening current laws. Lee en español.
City Bureau answers common questions from Chicago staffing agency workers — from what to do if they suspect wage theft to where to file complaints with the city and state. Lee en español.
Who Are We?
To report these stories on temp workers and the staffing industry, City Bureau fall fellows and senior reporter Sarah Conway interviewed more than 30 worker advocates, current and former temp workers, temp industry experts, state and city officials and industry representatives. They also reviewed data from the Illinois Department of Labor and the Illinois Department of Human Rights, court documents, public records requested under the Freedom of Information Act and read several reports. Reporters also researched the history of legislative actions and referenced more than 20 news articles. (Photos by Davon Clark/City Bureau.)
Siri Chilukuri
By Sonal Soni
Siri Chilukuri applied for the City Bureau Fellowship because of the organization’s equity-based framework. Fostering community engagement and telling stories from the voices of affected Chicagoans align with her values.
The Chicagoan attended The New School in New York, where she intended to study environmental law. It didn’t take her long to make the shift to journalism. She started by covering ongoing labor struggles at the university and later expanded to a wide range of topics.
While still in school, Chilukuri landed an internship at Block Club Chicago, where she reported on various topics, including uprisings in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and postal workers dealing with an influx mail-in ballots. Soon after, she was hired as an investigative reporting intern at the Better Government Association.
Chilukuri is most proud of an accountability story she co-reported last year as part of a fellowship with Floodlight News, a publication that focuses on climate change. The report, which was published by The Guardian, shed light on the relationship between financial institutions and their climate change pledges. Her reporting demonstrated Chilukuri’s tenacity, determination and inherent curiosity about the surrounding world.
One of her greatest pieces of professional and personal advice is not to count out the opportunities that are unfamiliar. She was initially interested in environmental law to keep people in power accountable, and now she’s doing that through reporting. She said her younger self would be surprised at her chosen career path — and the fact that she has pink hair.
Maia McDonald
By Jhaylin Benson
Maia McDonald is not your average journalist.
For her, journalism is more than just telling stories to generate clicks and views — it should serve the community. That’s why she turned down a three-year contract with a TV news station in Iowa after graduating from the University of Missouri. While most would have jumped at the chance to get their foot in the door, McDonald understands that not all opportunities are a good fit for her.
“I wasn’t ready to make that leap yet, so I decided to head back home and figure out my career in Chicago.”
The challenges she faced in undergrad such as balancing her studies with her work at an NBC-affiliate station, taught McDonald what it means to be a journalist. McDonald’s love affair with journalism began in high school when she started working with Free Spirit Media, which produced news video segments for young people. She reconnected with the organization upon returning to Chicago after earning a bachelor’s in radio-TV reporting and anchoring. There, she reported on health and wellness and later became an editor on that beat. Earlier this year, she was hired as an intern at Block Club Chicago, where she’s written dozens of stories on a wide range of topics.
McDonald is dedicated to covering communities in a way that’s uplifting rather than exploiting their suffering, which is why she accepted a spot in the City Bureau Fellowship program.
When she is not reporting she is either taking care of her dog, Kida, scrap-booking, or playing video games.
Cristal Ramírez
By Annabel Rocha
Cristal Ramírez is a 24-year-old Brighton Park-native who is proud of her roots from Guerrero, Mexico, and her Indigenous lineage. She is a first-generation high school graduate and college student. She’s expected to graduate in December with a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and Latin American and Latino studies from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).
Ramírez enjoys being open to new opportunities and trying new things, including the City Bureau Fellowship. Ramírez says she never considered pursuing journalism but now views it as an overlap with her studies and her experience working with organizations like the Field Museum and the Native American Support Program at UIC. She hopes to continue to engage with the community in a way that is not extractive, and appreciates City Bureau’s approach in shaping its reporting by the community’s wants and needs.
Ramírez sees beauty in underserved communities and values connection-building through vulnerability and empathy. She ultimately wants to make a positive impact in her community through her anthropology and journalism work.
She says the high-pressure of school has given her a “hippie approach” in life, taking things day by day and enjoying the journey. “I’m gonna set goals, [and] try to go for them, but ultimately I’m gonna go wherever the wind takes me.”
Daniela Tovar-Miranda
By Grace Del Vecchio
If you had told a younger Daniela Tovar-Miranda that she would go on to pursue a career in community journalism, she probably wouldn’t believe you. Growing up, she was always quiet and reserved and assumed she’d be working in a lab when she got older.
Her life-long love of science led her to pursue a degree in natural sciences at Dominican University. Then she had a change of heart in 2020, the year the COVID-19 pandemic changed the world. Tovar-Miranda realized low-income, Latinx communities were left in the dark, with explanations about the virus that were inaccurate or, at times, false. In response, Tovar-Miranda added journalism as a second major.
Born and raised in Pilsen, and the daughter of Mexican immigrants, she is driven by the desire to meet the needs of her community, which she feels she can tackle with her areas of study.
“I liked that idea of actually going out and talking to people and seeing what they need in their communities,” said Tovar-Miranda, who graduated in May.
While in school, she worked as an editor for Dominican University’s student publication, the Dominican Star, and as a sports reporter for Area Sports Network, where she covered the Chicago Fire Football Club.
In addition to the City Bureau Fellowship, she curates lesson plans for Chicago-area students at the Lincoln Park Zoo.
A former collegiate athlete, Tovar-Miranda likes to spend her free time playing pick-up soccer and keeping up with the Portland Thorns Football Club and Tigres UANL.
Sarah Conway
By Jerrel Floyd
For Sarah Conway, her journalism career is both a full circle moment that was meant to be and an untraditional journey.
The City Bureau’s award-winning senior reporter has engaged with communities for stories ranging from addressing the needs of pregnant women of color to food production worker demands.
Her journey with the organization began with fellowships in 2016 and 2017. She was quickly hired as a resident reporter and later had stints as a special projects manager and an editor.
Before joining City Bureau, the Joliet native worked as a teacher, in project management overseas and with public surveying. She also had occasional waitressing gigs. Combined with her love for writing, those experiences added to her self-taught relationship with journalism. It’s an experience she carries with her when working with fellows who also reach journalism through non-traditional paths.
Her own appreciation for journalism began with her great grandmother who annotated Joliet’s Herald-News with pencil.
Conway’s curiosity, paired with her love of writing and creating space for people, helped birth the empathic journalist she is today. Reporting, Conway said, is a tool to craft stories that provide resources and support for communities throughout Chicago’s South and West sides.
“I want to create a space where people can both share and experience their own healing,” she said.
Have Your Say
Want to share your opinion about the staffing agencies? Or want to share a tip? Reach out via email at tips@citybureau.org. You can also leave a voicemail or text message for us at 312-361-0881.