Forum / Happy Labor Day

• 
  James Lloyd Davis

  Sep 02, 02:44pm

  Once upon a time in America, unions and the power of collective bargaining gave many American workers rights and prosperity they never enjoyed previously. These were not freely given by the people they worked for, but had to be demanded, fought for on picket lines that were often violent, even deadly.

  Unions are, today, largely on the decline and many conservative politicians, emboldened by the free flow of lobbying money from special interest groups are trying their best to ensure that even the concept of collective bargaining is illegal by passing prohibitive laws in stacked state houses.

  For some, maybe too many who stand to benefit from them, unions are vague cliches viewed as oppressive, corrupt organizations. It's a myth that many would love for you to believe.

  For those who have benefited from and believe in the rights of working men and women to gather together under a common cause, unions are institutions that provide well for the common benefit of those who would otherwise be powerless in the employ of people who see no moral dilemma in dangerous, unregulated working conditions, non-existent health benefits and low pay.

  If you don't accept that unions have and continue to benefit working people in America, then maybe you need to look closer into the history of labor.

  Or you can throw a couple of hot dogs on the grill and when your kids ask you "What's Labor Day?" you can shrug and say, "A holiday, you know, like... Easter, Thanksgiving."

• 
  Carol Reid

  Sep 02, 03:45pm

  Good reminder, James. There were many hard-won fights and workers and their families had to endure lean times to stand together and improve their collective lot.

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  Ann Bogle

  Sep 02, 04:55pm

  Yes, good reminders. I used to call out, while living in my mother's house, "I need a labor historian in my bed!" She couldn't hear me due to her marked loss of hearing. I called out because I felt flummoxed in knowing that competitive training and practice might lead to the impossibility of gainful employment. I still feel it. It grates on the chalk board of my mind and surfaces in rumors as laziness or ingratitude among the dependent. Loved ones, especially, look down on workers not paid to work. When bids to work go ignored in our field, people who once taught come across as faux authors, and people paid to teach come across as faux authors as well. It's an acting job! Whether paid or unpaid. That is Labor Day to me, my Labor Day. There is no way other than to: Carry on!

• 
  Michael Gillan Maxwell

  Sep 02, 05:05pm

  Well said, brother and sister!

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