Andy Stern: Changing How America Works

By Andy Stern, AlterNet. Posted November 2, 2006.

Something's wrong when only the rich are getting richer, and average folks are feeling the squeeze. The answer isn't more education, or simply electing better leaders. We need widespread change.

Editor's note: On October 18th, SEIU leader Andy Stern was in the Bay Area on a book tour, and gave a talk at a crowded event at Lukas Restaurant in Oakland. The event was sponsored by Drinking Liberally, a group started by Justiin Krebs that brings together progressives in a number of cities to hear quality speakers and to connect over a beer. The following is a transcript of Stern's talk.

Ercilia Sandoval is one of the people in this country who did exactly what she was supposed to do. She worked hard every day sweeping floors, cleaning toilets, and taking out the garbage in some of Houston's most elegant office buildings. She is willing to work hard to raise her two girls. She tried to save what she could, but on a little more than $5 an hour, it's hard to find enough money to pay the bills.

Then she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Ercilia was already a fighter and a leader among her co-workers, but she was probably going to die. And her problem was that she was having problems with her health over a long period of time, but she couldn't afford to go to the doctor, couldn't afford to get healthcare and is now worried about what this means for her kids, and her work is dedicated to all the mothers in Houston, Texas, who are janitors, who she never wants to have live through the same thing. She happens to be on the Glamour magazine website right now, she's up for nomination as one of the five women of the year for Glamour.