Today, Americans are facing an affordability crisis. We’re here after years of union busting, lax antitrust enforcement and corporate takeover of our democracy and now, fascism and oligarchy reigning over our society. So this Labor Day, I want to tell you about a woman whose courage, vision, and persistence transformed America and the American workplace: a woman who truly knew the meaning of affording your life, Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins.
When President Franklin Roosevelt appointed her in 1933, Perkins became the first woman in U.S. history to serve in the Cabinet. But she was more than a symbol—she was a reformer, a fighter, and the architect of many of the protections we now take for granted.
She came into office at the height of the Great Depression, when millions of Americans were out of work, when wages were low, hours were long, and protections were almost nonexistent. Frances Perkins had already seen the consequences of unsafe working conditions firsthand. As a young woman, she had watched the flames of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911, when 146 garment workers—mostly immigrant women—died because they were locked inside a burning building. That tragedy seared into her the determination to make workers’ lives safer, fairer, and more dignified.
As Secretary of Labor, Perkins set out an ambitious agenda—and she achieved it. She helped design and implement the Social Security Act of 1935, which for the first time gave Americans a system of old-age pensions, unemployment insurance, and aid to families in need. She championed the Fair Labor Standards Act, which established the minimum wage, the 40-hour work week, and restrictions on child labor. She was instrumental in creating the Civilian Conservation Corps and Public Works Administration, which gave jobs to millions.
Her guiding principle was simple but powerful: that the government has a responsibility to protect workers from exploitation and to ensure that prosperity is shared, not hoarded.
Frances Perkins knew these reforms would not come easily. She faced resistance not only from business interests but also from members of Congress and even some within the Roosevelt administration. Yet she persisted. With intelligence, patience, and moral conviction, she turned ideas that seemed radical into law.
Her legacy lives with us every day. When you receive a paycheck that honors overtime pay, when you see a child in school instead of working in a factory, when you know that your retirement is backed by Social Security—those are the reforms of Frances Perkins.
She once said, “The people are what matter to government, and a government should aim to give all the people under its jurisdiction the best possible life.”
This Labor Day, remember Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins, a true Affording Your Life visionary.
