We must fight for a strong union movement.
I grew up in poverty. After losing my parents at a young age, I bounced around and was in the streets for much of my youth. It was a hard life, but people told me that if I worked hard and put my nose to the grindstone, it would pay off and I could get a decent job. I did work hard. For years, I put in long hours and tried to fund my education so that I could get ahead. But tuition increased much faster than my pay, putting a college degree further out of reach.
At the age of 30, I've been working at McDonald’s for the last few years. It's one of the few jobs available in the community where I live.
I can't afford a car, so I walk or take a bus to work. I'm never late. I'm on my feet all day cooking, cleaning, taking orders, and doing everything I'm asked to do. I really don't mind the work itself; it's the paycheck that hurts — especially, now that I have a young child to take care of.
She is the reason that, after years of toiling for large corporations and making pennies, I've come to the conclusion that if I’m ever going to escape poverty, I have to fight for a union.
The economy is rigged. Corporate profits are soaring while working people — particularly people of color like myself — see our real incomes shrinking. According to statistics from the the Center for Economic and Policy Research, black men in a union make 35 percent more than those not in a union. For black women, it’s 37 percent. Unionized black workers are more likely to have health insurance and employer-sponsored retirement plans — something I have never had.
Two years ago, I joined the Fight for $15 because I realized that I was lied to in my youth. America is not a meritocracy. No matter how hard I work, I am only making someone else rich. The inequality is obscene — especially when you consider that the median net worth of white families is now more than 10 times that of African-American or Latino families.
If we are going to stand a chance to reverse the inequality in this country, we have to fight for a strong union movement.
Without unions, we will continue to work day in and day out only to remain in poverty. I know from experience, working full time and living in poverty is no way to live.
That’s why today I’m standing with thousands of other folks just like me to put the labor back in Labor Day.
We’re fighting to make the jobs that we have into good jobs — not just jobs that make CEOs rich. Stand with us. Let’s create a better economy for all hard-working people so our children don’t get stuck in the same cycle of poverty.