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Democrats, joined by AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka, will release a report today on the “Future of Work Wages and Labor” assembled by Reps. Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Donald Norcross (D-N.J.) and Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.). The report proposes raising the minimum wage, guaranteeing workers paid leave, banning stock buybacks, ramping up antitrust enforcement, indexing the overtime salary threshold to inflation, expanding sector-wide collective bargaining, and various other reforms to counter the blow to workers and unions dealt by the Supreme Court’s June decision in Janus v. AFSCME. 

“We need all of the resources we can muster to stop acts of violence before they happen. By providing funding to harden targets in our communities, we’re smartly investing dollars to help keep the people of South Jersey safe,” said Congressman Donald Norcross, a member of the House Armed Services Committee. “Along with our committed Senators, I will continue to fight for all of the resources needed to ensure our law enforcement agencies and first responders are best able to protect New Jerseyans.”

“What better way to celebrate the American worker than to remove their 2.5 percent raise for the year. That’s what Donald Trump announced yesterday,” Rep. Donald Norcross said. “The raise for federal workers, he’s putting a halt on. Why? Because we can’t afford it. So let me get this — you give a trillion away to the top 1 percent people, and you cut the pay of the public workers that need that 2 percent raise.”

"While many people know Peter J. McGuire is the ‘Father of Labor Day,’ they don’t often know he lived in Camden and was buried in Pennsauken," said Norcross, a union electrician by trade.

Norcross said McGuire fought for working families and understood the American workforce is "our greatest asset," adding that designating his memorial as a historic landmark is the least that can be done to honor and remember him.

"I am humbled that as just a kid from Pennsauken, I’m in a position to properly memorialize my hometown hero," said Norcross.

Labor Day is a time to celebrate America’s workers, and, this year, while we do that, we should also look at the realities facing our country’s hardworking men and women.

While corporate bosses have been getting big raises and bigger bonuses for decades, wages for workers have been stagnant. This coincides with the loss of a voice in the workplace as union membership has declined. For some in the top 1 percent, these may seem like small concerns, but I know firsthand that they are huge problems for rank-and-file workers. I was an electrician for decades and eventually became a business agent for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 351, as well as president of the Southern New Jersey AFL-CIO.