MEA member Robin Moore wants to change perceptions about the need for every worker to have a thriving wage, good health care, and a secure retirement.

“These things are not entitlements; they’re essential elements that people need to live a dignified life,” she says. “We have to take care of each other.”

A 28-year support staff employee at Lansing Community College (LCC), Moore is a captain in the Michigan ESP Bill of Rights campaign because she knows her personal story illustrates larger societal issues that require collective action.

“There’s power in numbers. When I think about different movements that have graced these United States, people came together and change happened.”

In 1998 Moore was a newly divorced single mom when she left an unfulfilling retail career to pursue her dream of becoming a teacher. She enrolled at LCC, but circumstances intervened.

She took a permanent job in the LCC Library where she was a student employee with hope of becoming full-time. For 15 years she worked 30 hours per week for less pay and benefits than her full-time counterpart — taking on second and third jobs to make ends meet.

“That was an eye opener for me when I saw the inequities,” she said. “The only difference between us was her being full-time and me being part-time; we had the same responsibilities, but my hourly rate was different.”

Now a full-time Library operations and circulation specialist, Moore processes student textbooks and manages operations and student employees. Support staff keep workplaces humming yet often remain overlooked and undervalued, she says.

“If we were all to decide we’re not doing anything, the institution could not function, so think of us,” she said, pausing and restating for emphasis: “Think of us.”

Recently part-time employees at LCC joined others in the union, and contract bargaining began to address some pay disparities. But she worries health care cost increases could wipe out gains.

“That’s why we say we need quality and affordable health care: It shouldn’t be one or the other.”

Both of her parents spent careers working for the state of Michigan, and the family enjoyed a middle-class life with healthy food, routine medical care, regular vacations.

Today Moore is remarried, mother of three, and president of the Board of Education for the Lansing School District. In every role she plays, leading, mentoring and serving others is key.

“I always wanted to help people, and I consider myself a public servant. I’m not in a classroom setting, but I am a teacher.”

Related overview: The Michigan ESP Bill of Rights: an engine for advocacy

Learn more about the six elements of the Michigan Bill of Rights campaign through the stories of our featured captains: