Vangie WilliamsCompte certifié

On May 1, 1886, hundreds of thousands of U.S. industrial workers participated in a nationwide strike to demand an eight-hour workday. At the time, it was common to work 10- to 16-hour days. Thanks to unions, that all changed. @AFLCIO @AFGENational Local 1786 @VEA4Kids

Today, May 1, 2020, workers at some of America's largest companies planned on striking. Labor organizers at Amazon, Whole Foods, Instacart and Shipt have said they planned to walk out today, May Day, a global holiday commonly celebrated as a day to honor workers. @IBEW 26

Their demands, while diverse, include an expansion of paid sick leave, access to personal protective equipment, better pay and enforcement of social distancing in the workplace.

It's time to return power to working people. It's time for the most comprehensive agenda for workers since the New Deal. Over the past few decades, fundamental changes in our economy have left millions of working families hanging on by their fingernails. @CWAUnion @IAFFNewsDesk

Wages have largely stagnated even as corporate profits have soared and worker productivity has risen steadily. The share of national income that goes to labor has declined and is near its lowest point in almost 70 years. @iaff 2960 @iaff @TheVaPFF @vfca

These trends reflect a shift of trillions of dollars away from the pockets of working families. And they are all driven by a single underlying problem: American workers don’t have enough power. @VAPBA @AFSCME @unitehere @APWUnational @NALC_National

A key reason is the systematic attack on unions by giant corporations and their allies in Washington and in state governments. The percentage of unionized workers has plummeted from 35% to 10% since the 1950s, leaving too many workers without a strong voice in the workplace.

But the problem goes beyond this frontal assault. Decades of accumulating decisions in corporate boardrooms and in Washington have shifted more and more power into thr hands of Wall Street managers, CEOs, and other elites - and money along with it.