In celebration of the Hispanic Heritage Month, Kelly Fay Rodriguez, assistant to the executive vice president at AFL-CIO, presents this Labor Department guest blog, 6.8 Million Latino Workers, advocating for policies that will ensure workers earn a decent living wage.  Kelly states that according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2013 Latino union members earned a weekly average of $838 compared to $547 for non-union workers over 35% more income per week. Raising the minimum wage will raise the bar for all workers to receive fair and dignified compensation for their work.

Editor’s note: The following guest blog post is authored by Kelly Fay Rodriguez, assistant to the executive vice president at AFL-CIO. During Hispanic Heritage Month, which is celebrated from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, we will run a series of blog posts related to how we can help expand opportunity for more people in America. For real-time updates in Spanish, follow the department on Twitter and Facebook.

Hispanic Heritage Month offers a time to recognize the contributions of the nearly 53 million Hispanic workers living in the United States and to highlight the issues facing our community. One critical issue is the federal minimum wage. Every day, millions of Latinosgo to work but struggle to support themselves and their families. Working with unions in the labor movement, we have seen the positive impact of fair wages on the lives of workers and their families. As a Latina advocate for workers I have witnessed the difference higher wages can make on living conditions for workers and on future opportunities for their children.

Latino workers would benefit greatly from raising the minimum wage because they are often paid wages well below their white and African-American counterparts. While Latinos comprise 16% of the country’s workforce, we make up nearly one-quarter of the workers who would be positively affected by raising the minimum wage. Nearly 6.8 million Latino workers would benefit if Congress raises the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour, according to the new AFL-CIO study Closing the Gap to the American Dream. The study demonstrates that raising the minimum wage is long overdue for the Hispanic community and all hard-working Americans. The value of the federal minimum wage has been on a steady decline since the late 1960s. It is worth 20 percent less today than it was in the 1980s, making it difficult for any full-time worker to pay their monthly bills or even buy the basic necessities. A full-time worker earning minimum wage makes only $15,000 a year; this puts many workers – including many with families to support – below the poverty line.

This means that many families have to make difficult choices, like having to choose between school supplies and groceries. Many workers take on more than one job to be able to support themselves and care for their families. Just last month a minimum wage earner, Maria Fernandes who worked three jobs, suffered a fatal accident while napping in her car between work shifts. Though rare, Maria’s tragic incident touches on a common experience for American workers – that is the extreme hardship low-wage earners will endure to try to make ends meet. These are choices that no person should have to make, certainly not someone who is working full time or multiple jobs. This injustice is one reason why most Americans agree that the minimum wage should be increased.

Labor unions are leading efforts to raise the minimum wage because doing so will help bring non-union low-wage workers closer to the higher earnings and better workplace conditions union members enjoy. According to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2013 Latino union members earned a weekly average of $838 compared to $547 for non-union Latino workers – over 35% more income per week. Raising the minimum wage will raise the bar for all workers to receive fair and dignified compensation for their work. My mother was a public school teacher and like many Latina workers, she saw her earnings increase and her ability to care for and support our family improve as a result of the decent wages secured by her union.

On this Hispanic Heritage Month let us stand together with Latino families and minimum-wage workers of every color and from every background to advocate for policies that will ensure each and every single one of us earns a decent living wage and may support our families.