Community organizer launches campaign for Labor Commissioner seat

ATLANTA — Community organizer and advocate Michelle “Michi” Sanchez has officially launched her campaign for Georgia Labor Commissioner, pledging to transform the office from a quiet administrative agency into a powerful advocate for the state’s working families.

Sanchez enters the Democratic primary with a platform focused on combating wage theft, protecting workers from exploitation, and restoring accountability to an office she says has failed working people for too long.

“Georgia’s Labor Commissioner should be more than a paperwork shuffler; they should be a champion for the people whose labor builds this state every day,” Sanchez said. “For over two decades, Georgia politicians have ignored working families. Inflation has risen more than 80%, yet our state minimum wage remains stuck at $5.15 an hour.

“Workers only receive $7.25 because federal law overrides it. Meanwhile, $450 million is stolen from Georgia workers every year through wage theft. That is not just policy failure, that is injustice.”

Sanchez brings more than a decade of grassroots organizing experience across metro Atlanta and rural north Georgia. She has organized in communities from the carpet mills of Dalton to neighborhoods in Atlanta, building coalitions, increasing voter participation, and helping elect leaders committed to working families. Her organizing work has included the New Georgia Project, Poder Latinx, Progressive Turnout Project, Common Cause, CASA in Action, and the Democratic Party of Georgia, where she helped lead innovative civic engagement efforts like “Tamales to the Polls.”

But for Sanchez, this campaign is deeply personal. Two months before her daughter, Hayley, turned 20, she passed away. An employer had broken their promise to hire her — costing her income, health care access and hope.

“Losing Hayley showed me how our system protects employers, not workers,” she said. “That has to change.”

Years later, Sanchez herself experienced workplace exploitation when she was misclassified as an independent contractor by an attorney who used the scheme to avoid payroll taxes, benefits and accountability. She experienced wage theft and sexual harassment, and because of gaps in Georgia law, had no legal recourse.

“I’ve lived these fights,” Sanchez said. “I survived wage theft and harassment with zero protections. These experiences showed me exactly how the system fails workers, and why this office matters.

“I will carry those experiences into this fight for every Georgia worker who has lost wages, health care or dignity.”

Sanchez’s campaign platform:

• As Labor Commissioner, Sanchez will use every tool available within the office’s authority and push for stronger laws where needed;
• Fight wage theft: Use investigation authority to expose violators, coordinate with worker organizations and legal aid, and publicly report exploiters so communities know who is stealing wages;
• Prioritize worker misclassification investigations: Hold employers accountable for forcing workers into fake “contractor” status to dodge benefits and protections;
• Improve unemployment insurance processing: Ensure Georgia workers receive benefits on time and with dignity;
• Expand language access: Protect immigrant workers, who make up 27% of Georgia’s construction work force, with information and enforcement in multiple languages;
• Build coalitions: Partner with worker centers, legal aid groups, faith communities, and small business owners who believe in fair competition;
• Advocate for systemic change: Publicly pressure the legislature to raise Georgia’s $5.15 minimum wage, establish comprehensive statewide harassment protections, and strengthen this office’s enforcement authority.

“Georgia cannot wait for Washington,” Sanchez said. “Under the current federal administration, workers cannot depend on federal protection. Georgia needs to protect its own workers. Workers need a Commissioner who sees them, hears them, and is willing to fight.”

Sanchez said she draws inspiration from Martin Luther King Jr., who was assassinated in Memphis while supporting sanitation workers demanding fair wages and dignity.

“Economic justice is justice,” she said. “Labor rights are civil rights. That fight did not end in Memphis, and it’s not finished in Georgia.”

Sanchez said she is running to ensure Georgia workers are paid fairly, treated with dignity, and protected by laws that are actually enforced.

“For too long, this office has been silent while working families struggle,” the candidate said said. “I’m ready to make it work for the people.”

The Democratic Primary will be held on May 19. Voter registration deadline is April 20.