Want to get paid more? vote for pro-union candidates. happy labor day!
I’m Ashley Bean Thornton, and I am running for the Texas House of Representatives, House District 56. If you like what I have to say, and you live in HD 56, I hope you will vote for me in November 2026. Meanwhile, I hope you will subscribe to my newsletter: https://ashleybeanthornton.com/stay-in-the-loop/. Thank you! Let’s build the Texas we want to live in!
By Ashley Bean Thornton
Happy Labor Day everybody! Labor Day is a day to celebrate and thank workers, and specifically a day to celebrate and thank the workers who got organized and made a better life for themselves and for all of us.
Because workers have been around since before the days of the pyramids – but workers have only been getting a fair deal and a decent life since they started getting organized.
If you are enjoying this day off, if you enjoy having a weekend every week, if you have a life that is basically 8 hours to work 8 hours to rest and 8 hours to do what you want – then you are benefitting because workers got organized and worked and negotiated and yes, sometimes literally fought for those things.
And organizing still makes a difference. Today, according to a study that came out just a few days ago, workers in right-to-work states like Texas tend to make about 7% less than comparable workers in states with stronger unions and collective bargaining. And that gap has doubled in the last decade.
Seven percent may not sound like that much. But it’s the difference, for example, between making $55,000 and almost $59,000 a year. That’s more than $300 a month — a week’s worth of groceries for some families, the electricity bill, a good chunk of a car payment. It’s the difference between no savings and having a little in the bank in case of emergencies or enough to start saving for a down payment on a house.
And wages aren’t the whole story. Unions also help workers negotiate for things like paid time off, health care and retirement benefits, and safer working conditions.
Also, stronger unions don’t just benefit people who belong to unions. When workers have more bargaining power, it raises the floor for everybody — including people working in nonunion jobs.
So today, take a minute to be thankful for all the people who go to work every day and keep our lives and our country running.
And this November 3rd, use your vote to elect people who will make sure working people have the power to negotiate fairly and effectively for the kinds of pay, benefits and working conditions that help build the Texas we all want to live in.
Happy Labor Day, Y’all!