Recognizing Calif.’s working people — not billionaires
California is quick to boast about its richest residents — billionaires behind brand names like Google, Facebook and Apple — but where is the respect for its hardest working residents?
Big tech and big agriculture have led to outsized profits and windfalls for some individual Californians, while the men and women who show up everyday and make the work possible are left behind.
A recent article in Forbes found that California is home to more billionaires than any other state in America. Approximately 186 of them live here. This state can brag about its billionaires, but the reality is they do not pay their fair share of taxes, which would benefit the greater good of society by providing money for public education, health care and infrastructure.
Corporations and the wealthy have manipulated the political system so the rules of the economy work for them at the expense of working people. With their allies in Congress, they’ve written a tax code that leaves massive corporations paying less than the average, hard-working American. They’ve taken so much power that they can raise prices whenever they want to make bigger profits, leaving others to foot the bill. At the same time, they’ve changed the rules to take bargaining power away from working people and keep wages from going up.
Is there anyone who has a tougher job than a California farmworker? Hours spent doing a physically demanding job, sometimes literally on their hands and knees to pick our fruits and vegetables. They do this whether it’s pouring rain or 110 degrees. Yet many of these individuals remain in poverty and, in a sad ironic twist, face food insecurity of their own.
How widespread is economic insecurity among farmworkers? Just look at the example set by Rep. David Valadao, R-Bakersfield. The congressman’s family farm was ordered to pay a $325,000 settlement to farmworkers who were denied minimum wage and overtime pay. However, instead of paying those men and women what they were owed, Valadao’s farm declared bankruptcy and the settlement was never paid.
Organizing is one way farmworkers have been able to stand up to big corporations and receive the wages and benefits they deserve. A bill working its way through the Legislature, the Agricultural Labor Relations Voting Choice Act (AB 2183), would make it easier for farmworkers to vote in union elections by expanding voting options, including mail-in ballots.
The bill is, unsurprisingly, opposed by corporations of the multibillion-dollar agriculture business.
Americans are fed up with having their labor devalued. It’s why we’ve seen so many people leave the workforce during the pandemic. People want to feel that both their work and their health and safety matter. Working Californians refuse to be without that basic level of respect.
I call on our elected representatives to stand up for working Californians. They should be supporting policies that even the playing field and reduce income inequality. Demand that corporations and wealthy individuals pay their fair share of taxes — and recognize the value of working Americans.