Happy Labor Day! While many of us are celebrating a holiday that usually bookends the summer season, it's a great reminder to put into perspective the value our labor provides to building our households, communities, companies, and society.
There are more stories coming out about the rise of unpaid labor, especially for caregivers and even internships. There are many studies documenting the decline of labor unions and the rise of inequality over the last 50 years. And evidence that unions help raise wages of less skilled workers. The downside of all this data? Here in the U.S. we are stuck at about 10% union membership, down from a peak of 35%. Working families aren't seeing their paychecks go up like they should. We aren't participating in unions to get those benefits.
I was part of a union once...in another country - Denmark. When I was a PhD student worker and professor I was part of a sector-wide union that represented academics. While in the union, I got a pension, paid vacation and negotiated salary and working environment. Participation in unions is almost 70% of all wage earners in Denmark. The naysayers will say we will never be like that. True. We won't, but we need a vision of where we want to go.
My vision is that we prioritize working families by making healthcare a human right, tackle the cost of living crisis by ensuring working families can afford good housing and childcare, and protect our earned benefits of Social Security and Medicare. It is unconscionable that politicians are proposing cutting benefits, raising the retirement age, and privatizing our hard earned benefits! that is a direct result of our labor!
