Mary Kay Henry, President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), issued the following statement in response to President Obama's Labor Day message:

In his Labor Day message today, President Obama said 'nobody who works full-time should have to raise their children in poverty.'

"The members of SEIU strongly agree. That's why we are proud to join with other workers and community groups to help fast food and retail workers build their movement to be heard and raise wages. Americans have a proud history of standing together to solve problems and make our country better. That's what this growing movement is about. Fast food and retail workers are telling profitable corporations that it's wrong to pay their workers so little that they qualify for food stamps and other assistance.

"These workers should get a lot of credit because they are sending a wake up call to the rest of the country about the future of the middle class. We can't build a strong economy with a falling wage floor. We can't build a country with prosperity for all by adding more and more jobs people can't live on. Lifting wages will strengthen the economy for all of us."

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