“No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance.”
- Martin Luther King Jr.

When you love this country, you fight for the people who make it work -- all people. And on Labor Day, we recognize all American workers and recommit ourselves to fighting for policies that honor the dignity of their work.

This Labor Day, I want to take special care to thank the frontline workers -- health care workers, grocery store workers, truck drivers, nursing home staff, and so many others -- who are putting themselves at risk to make our country work, even in the midst of a pandemic. Their work is essential, but corporations treat them as expendable.

Labor Day was born out of the labor movement more than a century ago, honoring the brave workers and unions who risked their livelihoods, and sometimes their lives, to demand safe working conditions and adequate wages that reflected the value of their work. It was a defining moment in the fight for the Dignity of Work -- but it’s not over. We’re still in this fight today.

Dignity of Work means hard work should pay off for everyone, no matter who you are or what kind of work you do: Whether you punch a clock or swipe a badge, earn a salary, or make tips; whether you’re raising children or caring for an aging parent; regardless of your race or gender; no matter your age or where you live in the country.

It’s about wages -- and it’s also about work schedules, overtime, collective bargaining, healthcare, childcare, economic and social justice, and so much more.

We need leaders who will fight for the Dignity of Work, but instead, we have President Trump and his broken promises and betrayals.

Trump took overtime pay away from millions of Americans. He attacked the union workers at Goodyear in Akron. He promised to bring back jobs, but instead, GM plants in Lordstown and elsewhere closed on his watch. He gave out tax handouts to his billionaire friends. He has stacked the courts and the Department of Labor with corporate lawyers. And with McConnell as his right-hand man, Trump has cut unemployment benefits for 25 million Americans in the middle of an economic crisis.

His entire presidency, Trump has sided with Wall Street over workers.

But in November, we can show Trump that we’re not falling for his divisiveness, his broken promises, and his phony populism. Instead, we can send Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to the White House to build a better system centered on the Dignity of Work.

Thank you for joining me in this fight.

With gratitude,

Sherrod