Happy Mother’s Day! We [heart] union moms. AFL-CIO.

Hi John,

Today, we celebrate all the ways moms and caregivers support their families and their communities. We appreciate you!

But we know that mothers and all caregivers need more than platitudes and praise. A card is nice, but working mothers in our communities need so much more: the real support they deserve.

And we also know that the best path to a better future for moms—and all working women—is a union job.

When women have a union contract, they have significantly higher wages and the pay gap virtually disappears. They also have better benefits, like paid family leave, quality health care—including reproductive health care—and a voice on the job, which empowers mothers to improve their workplaces and make them more equitable and family-friendly.

But attacks on unions, on the many mothers in the federal workforce, and on the programs many families depend on are making it harder for women and their families to get ahead.

And right now, Congress is considering a budget that would make it even worse—cutting $1.5 trillion from essential programs like Medicaid, the program that pays for 42% of all births in the United States each year. Medicaid helps millions of working families trying to care for their children and for their parents, providing health care for nearly half of all children and being the primary payer for 63% of nursing home residents.

These cuts would tear care away from millions of people, raise health care and insurance costs for everyone else, put countless mothers working in the care economy out of work, and make it more difficult for moms to support and care for their families.

All of this just to give giant corporations and billionaires bigger tax breaks. That’s no way to treat moms and caregivers on Mother’s Day.

Will you join us in taking action on behalf of all mothers and caregivers, and tell your member of Congress: “No cuts to Medicaid”?

Today, we honor mothers and caregivers everywhere, and reaffirm our commitment to ensuring that working mothers across America are never left behind.

In Solidarity,

Team AFL-CIO