Detroit, Michigan
8/15/2024
Thank you, just all of you, for letting me join in this family celebration. I'm honored to be part of the family.
And, I just want to know, who here has been fighting for paid sick leave, and who just won it?
Who here is ready for some minimum wage workers to get a raise?
And, who believes that tipped workers should get a fair wage with tips on top of that wage?
So, thank you so much to Mothering Justice and to Danielle Atkinson. I know we just met but I feel like we've known each other for a very, very long time. So, your leadership has obviously been extraordinary, and congratulations to you and to everybody who's been in this movement. Obviously to ROC United—I've known ROC for a long time across the country—but congratulations to ROC here in Michigan. Congratulations to Michigan Paid Leave for All Coalition!
We know this is true, those who would seek to beat us, would always try to divide us. I know this happens in coalition. And of course, to One Fair Wage, who I've worked with for a very long time. Thank you for your fight. Thanks to all of you and congratulations on the win.
I also want to say that the Department of Labor is very proud to actually be a supporter of a couple of organizations who are here, of course, Mothering Justice and also ROC United, with plans to help fight gender-based violence in the workplace.
So, this was no easy fight. You know that. The one's worth fighting are often not. And through the many challenges, you stuck with it. Republicans in the state legislature tried to roll back your wins. And, that's why I was so happy that there are state legislators who are here, because obviously, we need you.
You're giving us a sense of power. And, you kept on going. And, this coalition brought together restaurant workers and health care workers, reproductive rights advocates, people with disabilities, and faith communities, and so it is a very diverse community in every single way. And we know that the fight for justice is won by all of us fighting together. And, so I just really wanted to come here to honor you all, to acknowledge you all, and to say that I see you, and that many of the things you are fighting for are things that every single person should have. Every single worker should have confidence they can live it, every single woman should not be afraid of having to choose between their careers and their health, and yet too many do. And because of you, people of Michigan are going to sleep a little better at night and go to work and get a little bit more justice. And I just think that that is absolutely amazing.
And of course, when women fight, we also win, not just for women, but for all.
But we also know that paid leave and higher minimum wages do disproportionately benefit women. Why? Because the responsibility for care still falls largely to women. And, who among us who has had or currently has school aged children has not gotten that call after you've dropped your kid at school, drove to work and then heard, uh-oh, right, she's not feeling well, she needs you, she's got a fever, come get her. Paid leave allows you to go do that without compromising on a fair day's pay.
And, who here has not cared for an older parent or grandparent, right? And now, when my grandparent was in hospice care, my mother and I traded off caring for her. So this is something that we know deeply that is needed and being able to still live with security and not be worried about how to pay the rent, or the mortgage, or how put food on the table and still go be able to do that kind of care is really so important.
So, your victory is going to benefit all Michiganders, be we also know that it is going to especially be good for women's health and for women's wellbeing. And sometimes we get sick, too. Let's just acknowledge that we also need to take care of our own health. And the fights that you're fighting help to make sure that happens.
We also know that women are more likely to be in jobs that pay at or below the minimum wage than men are. So, again, the fight for higher wages, it's about basic security basic dignity and the ability to lead a decent life.
And the work to uplift women has been deeply personal to me. So, I spent almost 20 years of my life, before being in government, in a non-profit organization fighting for working people, fighting alongside working people, and I really hear, when Daniele and Christina talk about how when women learn to make policy and learn to be part of decision-making, it changes things. I really hear that. I've really seen that. You know, I've fought alongside all workers, women workers, many women of color, who've been told their whole lives to keep their head down and know their place. Right? That's what they're told over and over and over again. And they're told that from the time they're young, they're told that when they're at school, and they're told that when they get to their job. And what you all have shown is that women can keep our heads up and our place is wherever decision-making is being done.
I just want to also say on behalf of the Biden Harris Administration, right, this president, our vice president, are all in for the fights that you are fighting here in Michigan, too.
And, we salute you. We see and hear in the fight for communities that have been for too long left behind, for too long heard keep your head down and know your place. And our mission is to expand good jobs, in which the jobs that are being done, including the jobs that are being done by women, are all good jobs. And, we are making incredible investments in that, in those promises. So, here in Michigan alone, there's been over $12.4 billion in Michigan to uplift communities, to fix roads and bridges, to make sure every family that turns on the faucet gets clean drinking water, to make sure that everybody, no matter where you live, has real opportunity and that there's high speed reliable internet, everywhere. Those are the…
I know. It's devastating out there. It's unbelievable that some folks don't have them. I'm with you.
And, so those investments are being made right now and they're creating good jobs right here at home. In fact, over 420,000 jobs have been created in Michigan since President Biden and Vice President Harris came into office. And, we are still just getting started.
I want to just note for all of us—because to understand exactly how far we've come, its also important to remember where we were, right? So, just four years ago we had a raging pandemic and no national strategy to address it. And everybody remembers what that meant for women, right? And how devastating it was. And how the impossible choices that so many women have to make every singe day were made way worse by the pandemic.
Remember the word "she-cession", right? That the devastating effects on women on the workplace and that economic effects were actually called a "she-cession."
Well, today, under President Biden and our Vice President Harris, women have powered the economic recovered that we have seen. Women are in the labor force in higher numbers than they've ever been. Ever. Like not just pre-pandemic, but ever in history, since we started recording this data in 1948. In fact, in 2023, the labor force participation for women was the highest it's ever been on record. And then 2 months ago, we broke our own record on that.
So, the reason why we are coming back strong as a country, coming back from a global pandemic and changing what is possible in this country is because of women and women workers. So, yes, we're all grateful for that work.
And I just want to say, of course, that care is key to all of that, right? It's the care we all do, it's the care we all need, and it's making sure that those caregivers, the workers who provide the care, are also treated with dignity and respect and have all the rights that every worker should have. So that's still work that we have left to do, right?
In fact, what I just said about women in the labor force is true, but women are still participating less than men in the labor force and that is largely because of the lack of the infrastructure to support women in the workplace, right? And so that's why we have to invest in things like our own care infrastructure. That's why policies like paid sick leave and paid family leave are so, so, so important. In fact, we have a study that shows that if this country invested in our care infrastructure and in policies like paid leave the same way that other comparable economies do, it would add more women to the labor force to the tune of $775 billion a year.
So, when people say, "Gosh, can we afford to do that?" I say, how can we afford not to.
So, we have a lot of work still ahead of us. We have a lot of work to make sure that everybody has access to a good job. That the good jobs that are being created are equally available to women, and especially women of color. That the jobs that women do are also good jobs where they can support themselves and live with dignity and know that they're going to come home healthy and safe at the end of every single day.
But you are showing what is possible. You are showing what happens when women are heard. You are showing what's possible when moms make policy. And, you are showing that women should never keep our heads down and we should always know that our place is at the table where every decision is being made. So, congratulations. Thank you.