Friend,

This past midnight, the United Auto Workers walked off the job as management failed to offer fairer wages after a protracted negotiation.

This is personal to me – to all of us in IL-17, where more than 10,000 UAW workers call this district home.

I stand in solidarity with our striking auto workers.

In IL-17 and around our country, high-quality union jobs gave workers a path to the middle class.

But today, as companies are raking in record profits, workers' benefits have been roundly stripped.

And wages haven’t just stagnated, they’ve flatlined: The average auto worker’s salary has declined by 40 percent over the past two decades.

Something has to give.

This isn’t for just this moment, but for auto workers to ensure they and other workers going forward can simply receive a fair share.

Like all of you, I hope this strike is settled quickly, but only if the workers can get the modest, fair wages they’re asking for. And I’ve got their back for as long as it takes.

Eric