I have lived my entire life in El Paso and I love my work taking care of the people here as a registered nurse. It's because I care that I must speak up now in favor of El Paso's taking tangible steps to improve workers' lives here.

Over the past 32 years that I've worked here as an RN, I've noticed that the minimum wage has not kept pace with the cost of life here. That's why as a nurse leader of National Nurses Organizing Committee El Paso I am joining the new Lift Up El Paso Alliance, to fight for a living wage and put an end to wage theft. We've decided to act on this now because El Paso County is one of the poorest in the entire United States. This is connected to the fact that the wage levels here are only 66 percent of the national average.

We've also decided to act now because we've learned that two-thirds of the workers who earn minimum wage are women and wage theft and low wages have a ripple effect on their children and other family members they are caring for.

The Lift Up El Paso Alliance will soon propose that the city act to protect all workers in El Paso from wage theft by passing an ordinance that speeds up enforcement and increases penalties for violators. We will also call on the city to move toward a living wage for all workers contracted by the city.

I support these initiatives because I've seen first-hand as an RN what happens when wages don't keep up with the rising cost of living, taxes and medical care. It's painfully simple: people don't seek medical attention when they need it and their health deteriorates.

This includes those low-wage workers with health insurance. Why? Because, they can't even afford to pay the deductible.

As an RN I am alarmed at the numbers of people, including some of my colleagues who hold low-wage jobs in the hospital where I work, who are suffering from health conditions like diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure but can't afford care. When these diseases go untreated they can cause much graver health problems, including blindness, organ failure, stroke and death.

When I was a child my father worked very hard and we barely made ends meet. Today in El Paso I know there are many families where both parents are working hard every day but are so poorly paid that they rely on school lunches for their children's nourishment. This is unacceptable.

That's why the wage theft ordinance is also so important; to protect those of us who are working, from dishonest employers.

Wage theft includes paying a worker less than the legal minimum wage and refusing to pay a worker overtime when they work extra hours. It also includes forcing workers to work off the clock, after their shift is over, without pay.

Wage theft is wrong and it is hurting many hardworking people. The city must pass a stronger law and enforce it to put an end to the suffering that wage theft is causing.

It is hard for me to believe that in 1950 our city had one of the strongest economies in the Southwestern United States. El Paso's income and high school graduation rates were both higher than the national averages.

One of the factors that contributed to the city's well-being then was the fact that it had a highly organized workforce. That's why I'm proud that NNOC-Texas is organizing today, along with numerous other organizations, to protect workers from wage theft and honor them with a living wage.

Please join us. Together we can Lift Up El Paso.

Maria Navarro is a registered nurse at Del Sol Medical Center and plays a leadership role in the National Nurses Organizing Committee in El Paso, which is part of the Lift Up El Paso Alliance.