On Labor Day, recognizing Philly’s labor movement wins | Opinion

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the workers most deeply impacted by this crisis have also been the lowest paid and the least protected. It was a watershed moment for the labor movement in Philadelphia, inspiring resistance and collective action to save lives and elevate living standards for working families who were already struggling before the pandemic.

As we celebrate Labor Day, it’s important to recognize the significant achievements of the labor movement in Philadelphia and use this moment to shape a future for this city where everyone can not only survive but thrive.

For too long, we’ve all seen big corporations and the wealthy get whatever they want while we’re told there isn’t enough for us. Corporations in our city get tax incentives while our schools go underfunded and hospitals we desperately need remain empty. Public subsidy for development continues without a focus on the quality of the permanent jobs that will be created by it and the lack of wealth flowing to our neighborhoods. Our current shortage of affordable housing means too many struggle under threat of eviction, especially as the Supreme Court has just struck down the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s eviction moratorium.

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With that said, we still see workers realizing their power and the potential of collective action to win big. Workers organizing in new sectors have won successful union campaigns, protected the rights to return to their jobs as the pandemic decimated the hotel industry, and won better contracts for hospital workers.

But there’s more to do to build back better for all of us. Too many in Philadelphia were suffering before the pandemic. We’ve spent years organizing to help working families make our communities more resilient. All workers deserve the right to unionize, earn real living wages, and have the ability to earn a pension because everyone deserves to retire in dignity.

The past year and a half has demanded that we see the way racial justice cannot be divorced from the fight for workers’ rights and pushed us to expose the ways racial disparities show up at work. We must address and remediate the racial disparities in our workforce to ensure everyone is being treated with dignity and respect and earns their fair share.

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The weekend and the eight-hour day are labor practices some take for granted today but were hard-fought victories that took years of blood, sweat, and tears. The work we do today must make it so that the generations that come after us never have to worry about choosing between child care, health care, or food on the table. Because if the past 18 months have shown us anything, it’s that it’s our duty to care for each other, and one of the best ways we do that is by supporting workers fighting for a better standard of living. And while many will spend Labor Day at the beach, a barbecue, or at work, it’s on all of us to support the fight for fair wages and respect on the job. We’re well on our way, and workers in Philadelphia are standing up, setting the bar higher, and will continue to win.

Rosslyn Wuchinich is president of UNITE HERE Local 274. Nicolas O’Rourke is the organizing director of the Pennsylvania Working Families Party.