The Biden administration has received ongoing attention for its actions to improve the lives of blue collar workers—from walking the picket line with striking autoworkers to ensuring that its signature investments in American industry create good jobs. Pundits and the press often point to actions to expand and raise standards in the construction and manufacturing sectors as central to the Biden administration’s economic agenda. Yet the administration has also taken numerous steps to boost the earnings and wealth of service sector workers, empower them to come together in unions, and hold accountable corporations that violate their rights.
Raising standards in the service sector affects workers across the economy—from baristas and call center workers to teachers and federal employees—and is essential to a strong middle class. Today, working-class Americans, defined as those without a four-year college degree, are primarily employed in service sector jobs. And research shows that policies to boost wages and benefits for service sector workers help narrow racial pay gaps, reduce turnover and support a well-qualified workforce.
The above excerpt was originally published in the Center for American Progress.
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