Rep. Ellison Statement On Labor Day

Statement

"On Labor Day we honor the millions of hard working Americans who built our nation and continue to pave roads, serve food, make cars, and care for the sick. We give thanks to workers who led - and continue to lead - the fight for fair wages, workplace safety, the eight-hour day, and the right to join a union. We remember that our fight for economic justice continues today.

"Fifty years after the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, income inequality is the challenge of our time just as Jim Crow segregation was the challenge of that time. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "What does it profit a man to be able to eat at an integrated lunch counter if he doesn't have enough money to buy a hamburger?'

"In 1963, the minimum wage, adjusted for inflation, was $9.54. Today it's just $7.25. It takes 86 hours a week working in a minimum wage job to pay for a two-bedroom apartment in Minnesota--that's twelve hours a day for seven days a week just to pay for a roof over your head. In the richest nation in the world, no family should face an 86-hour workweek just to house a family. It's time to make sure that a full day's work brings a full day's pay. It's time for a living wage.

"Since the Great Recession, putting food on the table has become more difficult for working families. Americans are working harder than ever and getting paid less while our nation's largest corporations make billions in profits.

"On August 29th, thousands of fast-food workers courageously stood up all across the nation and spoke out for an increase in the minimum wage. I was honored to stand with them. Let's celebrate this Labor Day by renewing our commitment to organize for fair wages every day."

Source