Dear fellow MoveOn member,

If the minimum wage had kept pace with Wall Street pay, it would be $44 an hour today.¹ Instead, it's been stuck at a paltry $7.25 an hour for 11 years—while Wall Street bonuses have surged by 1,217% since 1985.²

If this doesn't convince you that our economy is rigged, I don't know what will.

Which is why my friends at MoveOn, along with MoveOn's partners, are launching a massive organizing effort—that includes over 150 grassroots events—to put pressure on Congress and the White House to pass the THRIVE Act, a transformational $10-trillion economic recovery package that raises the minimum wage and puts over 15 million people to work in family-sustaining, union jobs.

But MoveOn needs your help. Pulling off a major, nationwide grassroots organizing effort of this size isn't cheap. And ever since President Joe Biden was inaugurated, donations to progressive organizations have plummeted.

So I'm coming to you today with a request: Will you chip in $3 to power the effort to raise the minimum wage and pass a transformational economic recovery package?

John, our economy is in desperate need of a transformation.

America has the widest income and wealth inequalities seen in a century, and they've only gotten worse since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The richest one-tenth of the richest 1% has as much wealth as everyone in the bottom 90% put together.

The median wage has barely budged for 40 years when adjusted for inflation, even though the economy is almost three times larger.

Meanwhile, executives at megacorporations make 320 times more than the average worker at their companies.

And companies like Amazon, Chevron, and Halliburton pay nothing in taxes.³

The right wing will try to argue that the solution to our economic problems is even more tax cuts for the wealthy and even more giveaways to massive corporations.

Baloney.

The only real way to build the economy is through rise-up economics, not trickle-down nonsense.

Which is why the fight for the THRIVE Act, which invests in American workers—in their health care, job training, and education—could not be more important.

Will you chip in $3 today to help power the grassroots organizing effort to unrig the economy?

What caused the gaping income and wealth inequality we are experiencing today?

Part of the answer is the right wing's decades-long attack on unions.

Fifty years ago, one-third of all private-sector workers belonged to a union. That gave workers the ability to bargain collectively for better pay and better benefits. And it also gave workers a strong political voice to challenge corporations' big money in politics.

But today, thanks to right-wing attacks on workers' rights, only a measly 6% of private sector workers are unionized, robbing workers of a significant source of power.

The THRIVE Act aims to fix that by enshrining the right of workers to form or join a union and engage in collective bargaining free of harassment and intimidation.

John, this is urgent. The future of our economy—from wages to working conditions—is on the line. MoveOn, and the entire progressive movement, are going all-in to pressure Congress to act.

Join us by chipping in $3 today.

Thanks for all you do.

–Robert Reich

Sources:

1. "If the Minimum Wage Had Increased as Much as Wall Street Bonuses Since 1985, It Would Be Worth $44 Today," Inequality.org, March 29, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/150565?t=5&akid=293799%2E40999114%2EtxJZzH

2. Ibid.

3. "These 91 companies paid no federal taxes in 2018," CNBC, December 17, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/150566?t=7&akid=293799%2E40999114%2EtxJZzH

Want to support our work? With our nation ravaged by the pandemic and the cruelty and incompetence of the Trump administration, we need to take bold action to contain the spread of the virus, speed up the delivery of vaccines, and deliver real economic relief to families across the country. MoveOn is prepared to launch a massive, nationwide campaign to ensure Congress acts swiftly to deliver more emergency checks, extend unemployment benefits, ramp up our nation's vaccination program, and more. But we need your help.

Will you chip in to our campaign to ensure Congress acts boldly to overcome the pandemic and build back our economy?

Click here to chip in $3, or whatever you can afford.

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