This Labor Day, it is important to remember that everyone in this country deserves a fair shot at the American dream: a good job with decent wages to support a family, and the chance to one day retire with dignity. That’s not asking for much. But families everywhere are stressing over every expense and stretching every paycheck to cover groceries, rent, health care and electric bills.
Nearly four in 10 adults could not cover a $400 emergency expense with money they had on hand. For Black workers and other workers of color, that dream is moving further out of reach. In 2023, Black unemployment fell to historic lows.
Today, Black workers are again being hit first and hardest by a weakening economy. Black unemployment climbed to 7 percent in the first half of this year, and Black workers are about twice as likely to be unemployed as white workers. The Federal Reserve found that just 60 percent of Black adults said they were doing OK financially or living comfortably in 2025, down 5 percentage points from the previous year.
Black adults also reported more job losses. Meanwhile, the people at the very top are doing better than ever. The AFL-CIO's latest Executive Paywatch report found that the average S&P 500 CEO’s compensation was $22.8 million in 2025, up 21 percent from the previous year.
And that doesn’t include Elon Musk’s outrageous $158.3 billion pay package last year. This deepening of economic inequality doesn’t just happen—it is a result of intentional policy choices. Labor law in this country has been weakened to the point where it is easier to bust a union than to form one.
That’s because the rich and powerful don’t want a strong labor movement. They know that, industry by industry, workers in unions took on the robber barons and the corporate-backed elite. Unions fight for economic justice and for racial justice.
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