Dear John,

Workers across America are fed up.

As I write this, more than 78 Starbucks stores from around the country have voted to unionize, and at the rate they’re organizing, there will probably be one or two more before you finish reading this email.

Union drives are underway at a half dozen Apple stores, and an Atlanta store was the first in the country to file. Workers are also organizing (and winning) at Amazon, REI, the New York Times, Wirecutter, and universities including MIT and IU-Bloomington.

Executives are scrambling in response, firing labor organizers illegally and spending millions of dollars on anti-union efforts.^[1] They’re terrified of organized worker power.

Union organizers need government protection, or big corporations will succeed in stamping out labor movements just like they’ve done throughout history.

There’s a lot for workers to be angry about. Despite the pressures of the Great Resignation, wages aren’t keeping pace with inflation^[2] and CEOs make an average of 351 times more than the typical worker’s salary.^[3]

Americans put in an average of nine hours of unpaid overtime each week, representing $35,451 of stolen income for an average family each year.^[4] In fact, more than half of Americans are working overtime, but just 15% are eligible for overtime pay.^[5]

Our lack of worker protections costs health and lives, too.

The majority of states have no worker protections from extreme heat, even though 40% of farm workers have experienced heat illness.^[6] Six Amazon warehouse workers died in a tornado in Illinois after being told they couldn’t leave -- despite hours of warning that a deadly storm was coming.^[7]

The government needs to make sure workers get what the protections and benefits they deserve. Sign the petition to tell President Biden to strengthen overtime pay, protect union organizing, issue new heat standards, and preserve civil rights for all workers.

He can do all of these things without Congress -- and he must.

Labor organizers are doing important, difficult work around the country, fighting for all workers’ lives and livelihoods. But without protection from corporate retaliation, those wins could be short-lived.

Thanks for joining me in supporting workers’ rights.

Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action

^{[1] “The Amazon Labor Union Took On America’s Most Powerful Company—and Won,” Motherboard, April 4, 2022
[2] “Workers Are Earning More, but Inflation Means They Can Afford Way Less,” Fortune, March 10, 2022
[3] “CEO Pay Has Skyrocketed 1,322% since 1978,” Economic Policy Institute, August 10, 2021
[4] “OSHA Will Issue Heat Standards to Protect Workers,” Pew Trusts, September 21, 2021
[5] America Gave Up on Overtime—and It’s Costing Workers $35,451 a Year,” Time, April 21, 2022
[6] “Symptoms of Heat Illness Among Latino Farmworkers in North Carolina,” American Journal of Preventive Medicine, November 2010
[7] “Amazon Worker Killed in Warehouse Collapse Wasn't Allowed to Leave When the Tornado Approached, Girlfriend Says,” Business Insider, December 31, 2021}