John,
Black workers – and specifically Black women workers – have always been central to America's labor movement. Workers like me have always and will always be fighting for dignity and respect, on and off the job.
This Black History Month, I'm honoring inspiring women like Addie Wyatt who applied for a job as a typist during the 1930s in Chicago. She moved there with her family from Mississippi to escape Jim Crow, but the white bosses wouldn't hire her because of the color of her skin. She took a job at a cannery, sending stew to soldiers fighting the war.
But then something happened: she realized she would make more money canning than she would have as a typist. Why? Her union, the United Packinghouse Workers of America, had won a contract that guaranteed higher wages and built in more safeguards against the kind of racial discrimination that prevented her from becoming a typist. Addie would go on to be the first woman to lead her union and was an active leader in the civil rights movement.
Years later, Addie Wyatt said, "I knew I wanted to help other workers. And I found I could help by joining with them and making the union strong and powerful enough to bring about change."
If I had a union at Little Caesar's the way Addie did, I know I'd be making more money too. My three-year-old daughter and I lost our home because my managers refused to pay me more than $10/hr.
Billion dollar corporations have always made their money off the backs of Black low wage workers like me. That's why I'm a part of this movement – just like Addie was – to fight back and win for workers like me.
Our history and our lives are important – not just during Black History Month, but every single day. Join me and share in solidarity >>
In solidarity,
Angel Kincaid
Little Caesar's Worker
Detroit, MI
Fight for $15 and a Union
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