American Rights at Work mourns the passing of our beloved board member and nationally-known champion for workers’ rights, Beth Shulman. In October, Beth was diagnosed with brain cancer, and succumbed to complications from pneumonia Friday, February 5th.

Beth’s life is a testament to the power of an individual to make a difference in the lives of others, and move our nation closer to justice. A committed advocate for low-wage workers, Beth laid out a visionary frame for Americans' need for family-sustaining jobs and made her arguments accessible through her writings, countless media appearances, and speaking engagements across the country. Beth visibly called for public policy and labor law reform to address the profound inequalities that continue to keep the American Dream beyond the reach of far too many hard-working men and women in America.

At American Rights at Work, we remember Beth’s resolute conviction that our nation could be better because we have the power to make it so. She firmly believed that restoring the middle class was a matter of national will that was our responsibility to inspire. At her passing, she was at work on a new book on the topic, titled A Good Jobs Nation. She has indelibly shaped the direction of our organization’s work to advance labor law reform and ensure that jobs created in response to the nation’s current economic crisis truly are good jobs.

» Washington Post: Beth Shulman, 60, dies; fought for low-wage workers