On strike. There was a time when one manual labor job, like a job in an auto factory, would be enough to allow an entire family of four or five to have what they needed.
To keep a roof over their head, save a little bit for college, and make sure there were presents under the tree for Christmas.
That day is gone.
Today, both parents have to work, and sometimes that isn’t enough.
Since around 1980, worker productivity has kept rising, but most of the benefits have flowed to CEOs, top earners, and shareholders instead of to typical workers.
The UAW Strike. On Strike For America.
This is what strikes across America are all about at an increasing rate this summer.
Workers continue to be productive, but the money that comes to the company from their increased productivity no longer gets delivered to the workers in increased salary or wages.
It now gets dumped into the pockets of CEOs, executives, and shareholders. Further widening this already enormous gap between the haves and have-nots.
The UAW strikers are not just fighting for their jobs, they’re fighting for the rest of us. Because what is happening in America today is not sustainable.
You know this because you have people in your family or neighborhood playing by the rules, working full-time, overtime, whatever it takes, and still don’t have enough money to pay the bills.
There’s not a single state in this country where a minimum wage job pays enough to keep the average-sized family afloat.
Time To Pay Workers What They Deserve
It’s time we pay workers what they deserve and shrink the enormous gap between the wealthy and everybody else.
People may say, well, the workers are asking too much. They’re asking for a 9% increase in wages on an annual basis. Well, in Detroit, the CEOs are getting a 9%, a 10% increase every single year in their salary.
On average, CEOs of the biggest companies in this country are getting a 15% annual increase in their salaries.
It’s time for us to stand up for workers getting screwed. It’s time for us to stand up for families working too hard for too little.
This is what the UAW strike is all about. Not just the future of American auto workers but the future of American workers and American families.
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