People who work hard and play by the rules should be able to afford to live with dignity and raise a family. This is America, where growth comes from the middle out, not the top down. People want to be working hard and earning a decent wage that can support a family.

We fight for:

• Raising the minimum wage.

• • Raising the minimum wage to at least $15 would help close the wage gap and give a boost to families struggling to help their children get ahead, lifting them out of poverty.

• Mandatory paid sick leave.

• • Over one million Virginia workers don’t have a paid sick day. Workers without paid sick days face an impossible choice when illness strikes: go to work sick (or send a sick child to school or daycare, risking public health and safety) — or stay home, lose pay, and risk job loss or workplace discipline.

• Equal pay for equal work.

• • Women are the breadwinners in 6 out of every 10 families. When women aren’t paid a fair wage for their work, families fall further behind. Closing the wage gap for all means more money in families’ pockets and more customers for local businesses, providing a shot in the arm for our local economy.

• Access to quality, affordable health care.

• • In Virginia, many fall into what is called the coverage gap. Those in the coverage gap earn too much money to qualify for government assistance programs like Medicaid, but do not earn enough to purchase their own health care coverage. The ACA also allows for federal funds to expand Medicaid coverage in states, but Virginia’s legislature refuses to accept the money and provide 400,000 people with health care. Without coverage, Virginians miss time from work and lose income that they desperately need.