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Greetings!
America Is Stronger Because of Organized Labor
Organized labor should be celebrated, protected, and uplifted, not only on Labor Day but every day. America is a stronger, safer, and more prosperous nation because generations of workers had the courage to organize and demand dignity, fairness, opportunity, and a voice at work.
As a former Chicago Public Schools employee and proud union member, I know firsthand how much a union can change a worker’s life. Over nearly 20 years in the Illinois General Assembly, I have proudly stood with organized labor because strong unions create stronger families, stronger communities, and a stronger America.
At every level of our economy, union workers keep America moving. Teachers educate our children. Nurses and health care workers care for our families. Police officers, firefighters, and first responders protect our communities. Laborers, electricians, operating engineers, transportation workers, and skilled tradespeople build and maintain the infrastructure our nation relies on.
The labor movement helped build America’s middle class and advance fair wages, safer workplaces, reasonable working hours, health benefits, retirement security, and the right to organize. Now we must ensure that the future of labor reflects America’s future.
America’s labor force should reflect the diversity of America itself. That means expanding pathways to good-paying union careers for people of every race, gender, background, neighborhood, and ZIP code. We must strengthen apprenticeships, training, and recruitment so that historically underrepresented communities have a fair opportunity to enter the skilled trades and other union professions, earn family-sustaining wages, and build generational wealth.
As families face rising costs, now is the time to strengthen organized labor, not weaken it. We must defend collective bargaining, prevailing wages, pensions, workplace safety, and the freedom to organize.
Let us build a stronger, more inclusive labor movement that reflects our country's full diversity, talent, and promise.
A diverse labor movement will build a stronger middle class and a stronger America—because America works better when America’s workers are better off in a union.
La Shawn K. Ford
Democratic Nominee for Congress
Illinois’ 7th Congressional District
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