National Organizing Director for One Fair Wage, Estefania Galvez, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to talk about her path to her current position, what the organization does and it’s plan to enact change.
Galvez was born and raised in Columbia, and during her timeat the University of South Florida she found a passion for organizing individuals from marginalized groups live better lives. After seeing several women of color, like U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), be elected to Congress, she moved to New York to help support and organize women of color in the unions. She specifically worked with restaurant workers at first and found that many women of color and immigrants in the industry were underpaid and had little to no protections.
One Fair Wage is an organization working on ending the existence of a minimum wage at both the local and federal levels, to instead become one livable national wage. Galvez explained the historical significance of minimum wages and how it impacts workers and segregates society. The organization believes that workers deserve a dignified wage, she said. Through legislative campaigns, One Fair Wage seeks to give tools to improve workers' ability to have a say in their workplace and wages.
Currently, the efforts of One Fair Wage are being fought on a state-by-state basis. Galvez said they are seeking to make the change in at least 25 states. Once One Fair Wage can make the wage changes in the minimum 25 states, they can educate and potentially improve the national wage standard. Together with workers on all levels who have suffered from low wages, Galvez believes change is possible, and then they’ll truly be able to fight for dignified wages for all jobs.
Hear more from Galvez by listening to the show above.