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Authors, sign in!In an op-ed I co-authored with Jenn Jannon of Working America published today in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, we expressed our gratitude of the American labor movement finally recognizing the need to engage young earners in a meaningful way. Young earners are more likely than any other group not to have health insurance.
In fact, 1 in 3 workers under 35 lack any coverage. For young earners, the thought of moving out of their parent's home is a dream, let alone buying a home before age 30. With mounting credit card debt we amassed to survive college, $40k in student loans after completing college (or not), and facing the highest unemployment in 28 years, we are in fact Generation X and Y yearning for a better deal. And the union movement might be able to help these "yEearners" achieve their dreams and more.
I was proud when i saw the 39-year-old Liz Shuler take the podium at the AFL-CIO convention in Pittsburgh in September and accept her new post as the organization's youngest principle officer ever elected and first female Secretary-Treasurer. It's the vision of President Richard Trumka that helped elevate Sec-Treas Shuler in the labor movement so quickly, but it's her character, determination and poise that won her that office.
It is indeed a new day in America. While 2009 has been a year of tremendous change, it's the ten years that follow that will be recorded as years of exceptional triumph if my generation heeds the call to lead and serve. Our time is remarkably now. While we are in the eye of an economic storm, and the winds have calmed and the rain has stopped, the worst is not over. If yEarners unite in common purpose we will achieve remarkable gains for this nation and build a tremendous foundation that will be called the Better Deal for America.
Published October 7, 2009 by Michael Fedor |
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AFL-CIO
Economy
Employment
Health Care Reform
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