I keep hearing people say nobody wants to work anymore, and honestly, that line is insulting. What I see is people applying to hundreds of jobs and getting nowhere, while the jobs that are out there too often come with terrible pay, terrible hours, no work life balance, and employers acting like workers are completely replaceable. If you're a millennial like me, you probably remember 2008 as the moment a lot of families learned how fast everything can fall apart. That memory never really left us.

Right now, all of the layoffs, the housing issues, and the rising cost of gas and groceries are making that same fear feel familiar again. People are not lazy for refusing to accept jobs that leave them exhausted, underpaid, and still unable to afford a stable life. We have created an economy where full-time work still does not guarantee dignity, rest, or security, and then we blame workers for noticing. That is backwards.

We need state leaders to pass fair scheduling and livable pay protections that actually match the reality people are living in. Workers should be able to count on predictable hours, enough income to cover basic needs, and protection from abusive workplace practices that treat them like they are disposable. If we want people to participate in the economy, then the economy has to stop punishing them for trying. Work should not demand that people give up their health, their families, and their peace just to survive.

I am asking you to stand with the people who are tired of being told to be grateful for exploitation.

Sign this petition to help demand fair scheduling and livable pay protections for workers now.