Dante Ramos’s column about graduate student union organizing (“Labor unions? Grad students are onto something,’’ Opinion, Sept. 4) was the first time I’ve been called a “patient’’ activist. I’m not flattered. I helped lead the fight for passage of the Massachusetts Domestic Workers Bill of Rights in 2014, and, believe me, it was a fight.

Our members — mostly young women from Brazil who, as domestics, regularly endured disrespect, substandard working and living conditions, and wage theft — were not quiet and not patient. Patience, when you’re fighting injustice, is not a virtue.

Union members are some of the best advocates for justice we’ve got. They advocate for jobs that pay a decent wage and for jobs with good benefits, and demand that employers abide by the employment laws of the land. All this benefits everyone in our families and communities.

Ramos tried to turn an important victory for graduate students into yet another opportunity to critique unions. Graduate student assistants have been organizing nationally for more than two decades, and dozens of these successful unions already exist across the country. Those grad students understand the value of a job where you have a union. Domestic workers understand the value of having the labor movement stand alongside us in our fight, too. We all benefit when unions speak out.

Natalicia Tracy

Executive director

Brazilian Worker Center

Allston