Issued September 15, 2021
WASHINGTON, DC: As Congress marks up the budget reconciliation package, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) International President Mary Kay Henry released the following statement:
“Working people reached across racial, occupational, regional and political lines last fall to vote for leaders promising to deliver the real, meaningful change needed to build a more inclusive, resilient and equitable economy. Those same workers who decided the election have not stopped mobilizing, and the Biden administration heard them. We’re on the precipice of winning a major investment in the care economy, a pathway to citizenship, climate justice and bold measures to create an economy that works for people, not just corporations. Leaders and champions in the House are taking important steps in committees this week, but it’s on Congress to deliver. That includes making sure that corporations pay their fair share and not putting the interests of the pharmaceutical industry over those of working people.
“Congress must pass the most robust, transformative package possible to build an economy in which every family can thrive. Care work is a central pillar in our economy and makes all other work possible. In order for our economy to work for all, we must seize this moment to lift up the Black, brown, Asian Pacific Islander, Indigenous and immigrant women who have been written out of the rules for far too long. That means meeting the promise of the $400 billion investment in home care that both expands access to seniors and people with disabilities and turns home care jobs into good, union, living-wage careers. It means passing a pathway to citizenship for the millions of Dreamers, people with Temporary Protected Status and undocumented workers who call our nation home, combatting climate change and environmental injustice and investing in essential workers.
“Our message to the U.S. House and Senate is simple: Passing this package is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to fix what’s broken and build back better. It’s also a mandate from the very workers who voted you into office who are watching what happens in Washington. By passing Build Back Better, we can advance a vision for a resilient, inclusive America where all working people have a strong voice on the job and in our democracy. Workers are going to fight like hell to make that vision a reality.”
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