We Need Your Voice (and Nominations) for the Summit on Worker Voice

America is at its strongest when we work together to build prosperity that all of us contribute to and share. We are our best when the working men and women who are engines of economic growth are true partners in industry and innovation, with a robust voice in their workplaces. That’s why, last week, President Obama announced his intention to host a White House Summit on Worker Voice on October 7.

Now, we need your help finding workers, employers, and organizers from across the country to join this conversation.

Our economy has come a long way from the economic crisis we faced when President Obama took office. American businesses have created 13 million jobs over the past 65 months, the longest consecutive streak of job growth on record. But we have more work to do to help middle-class wages grow and adapt to the changing nature of work in the 21st century. The Summit on Worker Voice will provide a historic opportunity to bring together a diverse group of leaders – including workers, employers, unions, organizers, and other advocates and experts – to explore ways to ensure that hardworking Americans are both driving our nation’s economic resurgence and also sharing in the benefits of the growth that they are helping to create. 

We know that many of you are doing great work across the country to prove this time-tested principle – that as employers, workers, and communities, we thrive when we stand together and support each other. We need the voices of hardworking Americans who stand up for better conditions in their workplaces. We need the voice of forward-thinking employers who are rejecting the old “us v. them” approach to their employees, instead finding win-win solutions by listening to them. We need the voices of tech innovators building new tools to allow workers to join together to make their voices heard.

You know, we don’t have all the answers here in Washington. We will be more successful in creating shared prosperity if we put our heads together to find new ways to help workers raise their voices together. That’s why we’re pleased to announce that we’ll be accepting nominations for people from across the country to attend the Summit in Washington, D.C. on October 7. Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in the conversation with senior leaders from business, unions, and government who share their commitment to fairer, more productive, and more prosperous workplaces. And we will be counting on attendees to learn from each other too, and to take those lessons back to their communities to make even more of a difference.

We’re looking for nominees who are making a difference for worker voice in their communities. Do you know someone who is bringing coworkers together to discuss common workplace issues, or who is inspiring workers to speak up? Do you know an employer who has taken great lengths to listen to their employees and learn what really matters to them? If so, nominate them to attend the Summit on Worker Voice.

There are limited spaces for attending the Summit at the White House, but there will be many other opportunities for joining the conversation. We’ll continue to provide updates on the blog about how you can join in.