UFCW International President Marc Perrone published an op-ed on Medium that asks everyone to look at Labor Day in a different way.
The following are excerpts from the op-ed:
“Labor Day should be a time when hard-working people join together to demand a better life. It should be a day when workers say enough is enough and call for the better wages, better benefits, and better life that they deserve.
“Across the country, men and women who help to feed, serve, clothe, and build this country are struggling like never before in low-paying full- or part-time jobs.
“America’s hard-working men and women must realize that our nation’s broken political system is unlikely to fully fix these issues, and poor wages and benefits will not be addressed by irresponsible companies more interested in PR stunts than improving the lives of their workers.
“So this Labor Day, every American must ask themselves: How long can this nation endure when so few have so much, and so many have so little? For the sake of all of our families, this must change. And that change must begin now.
“The real key to hard-working people finding the economic success they deserve is allowing them to join with others and negotiate together for better lives. That’s what Labor Day must be about.
“There is no corporate or political hero coming to the rescue for America’s working and middle-class families. But there is a pathway to real change, if we partner together and seize it.
“Because when all is said and done, no one in America should have to fight for a better life alone.”