Mary Gay Scanlon: “According to that report released in October, families in my district in Pennsylvania are being left underwater due to…”

“According to that report released in October, families in my district in Pennsylvania are being left underwater due to the high cost of living and debt they are forced to incur in order to make ends meet in this economy. A family making the median income of $75,000 is likely to be $2,000 under water at year's end. The middle class is shrinking, and it is clear to see why. The economic divide in the United States has reached unprecedented levels, wealth is concentrated at the very top, and it is not trickling down. Workers have seen their rights stripped, their wages cut, and their dignity taken away. Over the past three decades the average income for the bottom 90 percent of families, increased by 1.1 percent. During this same period, the average income for the wealthiest 1 percent nearly doubled. Put simply, workers responsible for wealth creation in this country are not seeing their fair share. Over that same 30-year period, we have seen the percentage of American workers in unions steadily decline, not because people don't want to join unions and take part in the higher average salaries and better benefit structure they are likely to receive. No, it is a direct result of relentless coordinating and well- funded antiunion attacks from corporations and special interests. Cynically misnamed right-to-work laws have harmed workers and their families.…”