Dear John,

For much of our nation's history, American workers had few workplace protections or rights. Tired of being forced to work in unsafe conditions for little pay, workers organized themselves and created our nation's first unions.

These labor unions fought hard for the rights of workers, and today we all benefit from their courage. The 40-hour workweek and weekends off, workplace safety, the end of child labor, overtime and paid leave would not exist if it weren't for labor unions.

That's what Labor Day is all about. This isn't just a long weekend at the end of summer. It is a day to celebrate how far we've come and honor those who've led the fight.

While we are grateful for all that organized labor has done for us, there's still much more to do. Labor unions built the middle class, but right-to-work laws and anti-worker legislation continue to undermine the right to organize and workplace protections. Far too many workers are underpaid and lack basic benefits, such as paid sick leave.

COVID-19 and the current economic recession have exacerbated these injustices. Last week, I met with labor leaders who are facing the impacts of the recession every day, as more than one-third of some of their locals are out of work and scores of members are taking short term jobs at lower wages just to get by. Workers have been exposed to COVID-19 without adequate protection or compensation, and millions of middle class Americans have lost their jobs.

We must do better. This Labor Day, let's continue the work that the very first unions started and fight to protect the right to organize, improve working conditions, and strengthen benefits for all workers.

We stand on the shoulders of the workers and unions who came before us. Today, we honor them.

Sincerely,

Chris

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