English subtitles for clip: File:2016-09-03 President Obama's Weekly Address.webm

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The President: Hi everybody.

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Before you fire up the
barbecue for the long

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weekend, I want to talk a
little bit about the reason

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we get to celebrate Labor
Day - and that's the labor

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movement that helped build
this country and our

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middle class.

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For generations, every
time the economy changed,

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hardworking Americans
marched and organized and

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joined unions to demand not
simply a bigger paycheck for

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themselves, but better
conditions and more security

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for the folks working
next to them, too.

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Their efforts are why we
can enjoy things like the

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40-hour workweek, overtime
pay, and a minimum wage.

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Their efforts are why we can
depend on health insurance,

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Social Security, Medicare,
and retirement plans.

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All of that progress is
stamped with the union label.

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All of that progress was
fueled with a simple belief:

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that our economy works
better when it works

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for everybody.

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That's the spirit that's
made the progress of these

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past seven and a
half years possible.

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We've rescued our economy
from another depression, cut

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our unemployment rate in
half, and unleashed the

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longest string total
job growth on record.

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And we've focused on making
sure that the gains of a

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growing economy don't just
flow to a few at the top,

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but to everybody.

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It's why we took action to
help millions of workers

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finally collect the overtime
pay they've earned.

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It's why I issued a call to
raise the minimum wage, and

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when Congress ignored that
call, 18 states and the

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District of Columbia, plus
another 51 cities and

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counties went ahead and
gave their workers a raise.

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It's why the very first
bill I signed was the Lilly

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Ledbetter Fair Pay Act; why
we gave paid sick days to

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federal contractors; why
we've fought for worker

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safety and the
right to organize.

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And we've made
good progress.

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For a few years after the
recession, the top one

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percent did capture
almost all income gains.

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But that share has been
cut by almost half.

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Last year, income for
everybody else grew at the

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fastest pace
since the 1990s.

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And another 20 million
Americans know the financial

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security of
health insurance.

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I'll be the first to say
we've got more work to do in

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the years ahead.

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Now, I know we're in the
heat of a more raucous

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political season than usual.

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But we can't get so
distracted by the latest

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bluster that we lose sight
of the policies that will

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actually help working
families get ahead.

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Because the truth is, that's
what's caused some of the

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frustration that's roiling
our politics right now - too

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many working folks still
feel left behind by an

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economy that's
constantly changing.

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So as a country, we've
got some choices to make.

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Do we want to be a country
where the typical woman

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working full-time earns 79
cents for every dollar a man

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makes - or one where they
earn equal pay for equal work?

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Do we want a future where
inequality rises as union

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membership keeps falling
- or one where wages are

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rising for everybody and
workers have a say in

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their prospects?

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Are we a people who just
talk about family values

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while remaining the only
developed nation that

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doesn't offer its workers
paid maternity leave - or

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are we a people who actually
value families, and make

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paid family leave an
economic priority for

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working parents?

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These are the kinds of
choices in front of us.

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And if we're going to
restore the sense that hard

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work is rewarded with a fair
shot to get ahead, we're

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going to have to follow the
lead of all those who came

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before us.

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That means standing up not
just for ourselves, but for

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the father clocking into
the plant, the sales clerk

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working long and
unpredictable hours, or the

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mother riding the bus to
work across town, even on

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Labor Day - folks who
work as hard as we do.

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And it means exercising our
rights to speak up in the

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workplace, to join a union,
and above all, to vote.

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That's the legacy we
celebrate on Labor Day.

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And I'm confident that
that's the legacy that we'll

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build upon in
the years ahead.

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Thanks everybody.

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Happy Labor Day.

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Enjoy the long weekend.