Weekends, the federal minimum wage, child labor laws, and workplace safety protections — we have a lot to thank the labor movement for, John.

It’s because of our brothers and sisters in labor who refused to give up in their fight for safer, healthier workplaces that we are where we are today.

But from the conversations I’ve had around our Commonwealth, it is so clear that our fight for workers is far from over, and the pandemic has underscored so many of the challenges our workers face. From home health aides without access to affordable training to keep them and their clients safe, to nurses who need safe staffing ratios and child care workers who are underpaid and undervalued. We have to do better for them, and I know that we can.

Standing up for American workers demands paying them more, and providing paid sick leave, and family and medical leave, so they can care for their families. We need quality, affordable child care, so our workers can concentrate on doing their jobs well, not whether their child is getting the care and instruction they need for a strong start in life.

We also need to work to ensure that every worker has a voice in their workplace — that means finally passing the PRO Act to protect and expand workers’ right to organize and bargain for better wages and benefits.

American workers are the best at what they do — and the Pennsylvania workers I meet every day take such care and pride in what they do, from our cement workers and child care workforce, to nurses and manufacturers. We need to show our pride in them in return by ensuring they have the pay, benefits, and work conditions they need to thrive.

Every worker deserves a safe, equitable workplace. I won’t stop fighting until that’s a reality in Pennsylvania and across the country.

In solidarity,

Val