Sen. Sanders: Labor Day 2015: Stand Together and Fight Back

Sunday, September 6, 2015

Labor Day is a time for honoring the working people of this country. It is also a time to celebrate the accomplishments of the activists and organizers who fought for the 40-hour work week, occupational safety, minimum-wage law, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and affordable housing. These working people, and their unions, resisted the oligarchs of their day, fought for a more responsive democracy, and built the middle class.

Today we can – and we must – follow their example. It’s time to rebuild the crumbling middle class of our country and make certain that every working person in the United States of America has a chance at a decent life.

Against overwhelming odds, the men and women of the labor movement changed society for the better. If you've ever enjoyed a paid vacation, a sick day or a pension, they are the people to thank. And if you don't have those benefits on your job today, they are the people who can help you get them.

The truth is, right now things aren't going very well right now for the working men and women of this country. As the Economic Policy Institute points out, the recovery from the financial crisis of 2008 is reaching people unevenly. African-American unemployment is more than double that of whites, and the Hispanic jobless rate is also much higher than the white rate. Unemployment in some states is almost three times higher than it is in others. And many people are working part time when they'd rather be working full time.

Wages for working people have stagnated for decades. In fact, according to a new study by the National Employment Law Project, real median hourly wages declined by 4 percent from 2009 to 2014, with low wage workers experiencing the biggest wage losses.

It's not that the money isn't there. Productivity has risen in this country, but working people are not sharing in the wealth. For three decades after the end of World War II, productivity and wages grew together. Business profits rose, and the workers who made those profits possible did well along with their bosses. That's not happening today. Productivity has continued to soar, but workers have been cut out of the profits.

We can fix these problems. We can create millions of new jobs by rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure. We can increase family income by raising the minimum wage and defending workers' rights to organize on the job. And we can pass legislation giving American workers the same kinds of benefits available to citizens of other developed nations: guaranteed sick leave, caregiver leave, and family leave; mandatory overtime pay; guaranteed paid vacation; and access to healthcare as a human right.

rest here
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-bernie-sanders/labor-day-2015-stand-toge_b_8096222.html

http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/must-read/labor-day-2015-stand-together-and-fight-back