Ruben Gallego Wants You to Get Paid More for Working on Holidays

This is happening against a backdrop of long-term trends: jobs are deteriorating, families are being crushed by energy and health care costs and priced out of the housing market, and wages have not kept pace. The defenders were struggle for a higher minimum wage since 2012, and are increasingly numerous turning to unions to improve their work. Yet despite a brief incident during President Joe Biden’s administration and the Covid pandemic, when the federal government expanded protections and the social safety net, most of Washington hasn’t really answered the call. That could change as Democrats look to the future after Trump.

Moshkova and Ramirez, who are trying to form a union with the Communications Workers of America, have far more complaints about their jobs than not being paid fairly for their work on holidays. Like many service workers, they have little control over their schedules. If they want a vacation, or any day, they have to request it, and if it’s even approved – which is not a given – it could be scheduled as one of their two regular days off that week, which are unpaid. At the same time, full-time workers can’t guarantee 40 hours of work per week, leaving their paychecks surprisingly short and having to scramble to plug a hole in their budget at the last minute. CWA surveyed workers and found that the median wage was just over $20 an hour, but some workers, like Spanish-language interpreters, start at just $15 an hour.

Nancy Ramos, who also works for LanguageLine in Texas, had to work on July 4 while her family made a meal. On top of that, she had undergone a medical procedure and requested leave, but was not granted it. “They told me to schedule my appointment on a day when I’m off, that’s why I was off on Tuesday,” she explained. “That I needed to find time around my schedule for my doctor visit because I had other days off. »