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Labor Day, to most people, is little more than the end of summer. Labor
Day commemorates the labor union movement, the demand for an eight hour
work day, better working conditions, fair wages and an end to child
labor.
In 1894 Labor Day became a federal holiday celebrated as a
“workingman's holiday” on the first Monday of September honoring the
contributions of working men and women to America.
While labor unions were organizing in the 1870's, small farmers,
through the Grange Movement were trying to break the power of the
railroads, the meat packers and the grain milling interests. Mary
Elizabeth Lease urged the farmers to “raise less corn and more hell”,
but farmers could never unite as the labor unions had.
In the mid-1960's, farm worker organizers Cesar Chavez and Dolores
Huerta formed the United Farm Workers (UFW). When the UFW's table grape
boycott brought the plight of the farm workers onto the national stage,
Dolores Huerta connected the feminist movement and gender rights with
the farm worker movement. And why not? Women worked the fields along
side the men.
The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP) organized in 1925 became
the first African-American union to join the American Federation of
Labor. Many of those involved in BSCP became leaders in the civil
rights movement.
Gender equality, racial equality, fair farm prices and farm worker
rights were separate issues but all related to the struggle of the
unions for a fair wage and decent working conditions. Labor unions may
have initially been all white and all male but, that changed.
Unions were never about the individual, they were about everyone. If
one is oppressed, all are oppressed. Labor unions recognized the need
to bring everyone into the struggle regardless of color or gender,
because the struggle was about everyone.
Now, generations after the early struggles of labor unions,
corporations have done their best to de-unionize America. Exporting
jobs, closing union factories and union busting have taken their toll
on jobs, wages and the economy in general.
Whether it was exploitation from the “Robber Barron's” of the
nineteenth century, the segregationists of the Jim Crow South, the
growers who exploit migrant farm laborers, the agribusiness interests
that squeeze and impoverish small farmers or the corporate mentality
that suppresses women with a glass ceiling, the parallels are pointedly
exact.
Labor unions, suffragists, feminists, civil rights advocates, small
farmers and farm workers all struggle against the rich, the powerful
and the corporate interests who intend to control the economy and
maintain their notion of social class. The labor movement was, and
still is, a reflection of society. They challenged the idea, that power
and money are the trump card.
Everyone, owes a debt to the laborers. Those who often put their lives
on the line, for safe work places, an eight hour work day, a five day
work week, insurance, disability benefits, a fair wage, dignity and
respect for manual labor.
Labor Day is a day to celebrate the power of the worker, but no less
the social movements that evolved with and from the unions. It is also
a day to reflect on how we can do better, for everyone.
26 Comments so far
Show AllMy Uncle use to be Sec. Treasurer of the Teamsters and I can tell you yes labor unions have corruption, but their corruption is nothing compared to most corporations. Corrupt or not, in most cases, they do care about the rank and file, where most corporations only care about the $ and would have their employees work for slave wages and pennies an hour if they could get away with it---and they do get away with it by outsourcing their companies to China, India, Mexico ect. One way they break the unions, is in their egregious outsourcing of many,many American jobs to China,India,Mexico ect. I will take organized labor any day!
Paul, THANK YOU ! I'm glad you stepped in and shed some light on the mystery of all this union corruption claims. I know deep down in my heart that even what appears to be a corrupt labor leader actually has a strong heart for the well-being of all members and pride in hard work. I'm surprised they're still standing despite all the corporate persecution they've been facing for 20 something years. The rural heartlands are bleeding to death or have bled to death for the most part and the ghost towns that remain cry for organized labor.
Go union! - democracy in economics!
- Bad leadership? - sometimes: who hasn't?
- Bad press? - let's remember who owns the press.
- Undercut by bribes and treachery of government and management?
Of course, that's hardly new.
Go union!
You do not have to own the union to have a hand in directing it.
Your dues do not go to foreign wars, to paying the people who control you, to denying you health and home as so often do taxes and purchases.
You need not invest in the swill of professional lies to serve in elected office.
Bad leadership? It happens - but government could do with the honesty of unions - and business isn't interested.
Labor Day and looking at rural MO as it looks more like a ghost town again as I came back today only puts me in pain and tears. Reading this article, I can't help but wonder what life in the rurals would be like if labor unions were strong today as they were in the 1970s.
Henry8 and maxpayne, I see some of your anger against labor unions and sort of understand it. Yes, today's labor unions are nothing like yesterday's but does that mean get rid of what's left of them? Yes, I cannot understand why the labor leaders support the wrong candidates but that does not justify getting rid of the labor unions altogther. Both of you need to back off the military and sit down with peaceful minds and think this through with open hearts and minds. More people need to be rekindled into understanding that it's ok not to be big on quantity but to actually take pride in the quality of your work. That's my gentle advice to both of you. I don't know how to train more people into understanding that but I would love to figure it out. But one thing I cannot stand is telling us that "unions are corrupt". Confused, strapped for cash, and just trying to make it through hell? Maybe but corrupt is not one of them !
Labor, as an organized group of citizens and non-citizens, began to protest strongly the starvation wages and 105-hour (in some cases) work weeks without overtime. Samuel Gompers, the leader of the garment workers said, and I paraphrase: "Labor will organize for self protection and advances and the world will stand surprised that we did it with peaceful means." This was not too long before the huge revolutions in Russia.
Gompers was right, but the track to labor groups that organized to protect their members did not come into serious play until the 1920s. John Lewis, the Welsh firebrand, hated by mine-owners, brought his laborers from their misery into some form of pay where they could put food on the table.
Clarence Darrow, arguably one of the super heroes of the USA defended Eugene Debs and his railway workers when even the U.S. goverment sent troops to cripplie their union whilc at the Haymarket "Riots" Chicago police pulled out their weapons and shot rioters. Seven Chicago policemen died, and it was later found that they were shot accidentally by their own police.
Two Labor leaders were hanged for activities connected with the Haymarket and McCormick disturbances -- neither one of these two gentlemen was dangerous nor in the city of Chicago at the time.
The Pullman Strike was illegally put down by the Federal Government under Grover Cleveland, even after the Governor of Illinois severely criticized him and pointed out that without Illinois' invitation, Cleveland's interference was illegal
You can thank American Labor for saving this country from the disaster of Russia. And all of these people were Socialists except for Clarence Darrow, whose biography by Irving Stone should be read by everyone who is interested in American labor problems and who also defended Mr. Scopes of the famous "Monkey" trials in Tennessee and Loeb and Leopold, among many others.
Until you understand these things and digest the statement by the owner of the Pennsylvania RR in respect of his coal miners; "They don't suffer. They can't even speak English," you will not have a basic knowledge of this country's necessity of uniting to protect the lives of their families and themselves.
How can a person be more grassroots than being a union brother or sister?
How can a workers voice be more loudly heard than at a pro-union rally?
How can a citizen be more visibly politically active than at a strike picket line?
How can an employee protest injustice in the work place better than being fired?
How can an American not support Unionism an still be for ....
Peace
Jim, the missing piece here is the Eternal Undead class staggering among us like zombies: corporations.
Unions have had to move in the direction of girding themselves to play corporate power games as corporations have become more and more powerful and entrenched. Over time unions have come more clearly to resemble corporate than cooperative entities. That makes them hard to trust, as they must operate and higher and higher levels of power and influence. They become bigger targets. They have to, but it gives something away: the old chthonic authority of the grass-roots-organized.
This is how the Eternal Undead powerful win the game: by morphing and co-opting their opposition out of existence. An easy thing to do when your opposition is mortal, and you are the Undead--Corporate Persons with no death, no end, no sunset, and all the time in the world to use the exponential increase of a flat rate of growth to corral the world's riches.
Until we learn to hunt and kill rogue and violent corporations--sunsetting their charters, refusing to let them re-form, holding them to account for operating outside the laws we all have to live within--we will be nothing but their slaves.
http://www.POCLAD.org
Where I live, prole seems mainly to be The New Black--a fashion statement--while actual working people are despised and reviled, especially if they belong to a strong union. Otherwise it's all yuppie chow and trustafarians and Carhartt millionaires in McMansions with wine rooms. We working people take a pretty low profile all in all, and for good reason. But the important thing is, we recognize and acknowledge each other.
Happy labor day. Know that some of you coulee farmers get remembered every time some of us see that little label that distinguishes rBGH from non-rBGH products. This labor day I hope Mr. Cannell is enjoying the sunshine down at Loreto chapel with its sculpture of the ancient Grain Goddess.
May I ask which Mr. Cannell you are referring to? Is it the one and only Mike formerly from Cazenovia? One of the all time great thinkers I ever had the pleasure of knowing.
The Labor Movement shot itself in the foot by becoming centrist. George Meaney supported the Viet Nam war. The rank and file got comfortable with employer based health insurance and 3% pay raises over three years time. Promotions "on the floor" and lay-off protection became matters of seniority. On all three of these points union members became more beholden to the Companies.
Union Leaders were comfortable with those kind of "bread and butter" demands. They forgot about the importance of worker self-determination and the need for a more democratic workplace.
It is for these reasons that most American labor unions decide to fight a holding action opposing any real change in corporate structures. I have met many union officers who were republicans. And they tended to sign "sweet-heart deals."
We need radical unions like the IWW in action again.
It's not just the big corporations that are responsible for the demise of labor unions. It's the unions themselves who have been stuck with bad leadership trying to rip off the members and what do they do with all that money? They just waste it on campaigning for Democrats and centrist ones too. Some people in the past have asked why don't labor unions bolster Kucinich, Gravel, Nader, etc ... I'll tell you why. All they care about is damn money. The real reason why most people are just plain against unions is because it all looks as corporatist as the corporations themselves ! Why can't the labor unions use that money towards building educational institutions and think tanks to teach more people to take pride in hard work? I love organized labor and it used to exist until the 1980s when Raygun did a hell of a job breaking them up with both parties continuing it thereafter. Finally, organized labor was replaced by greedy leadership. Don't believe me? Take a look at all those contracts labor union leaders negotiated with the corporations and tell me who's been winning for the last 20 years. What about NAFTA, CAFTA, China PNTR, etc...? Why does Big Labor side with corporatist Democrats when Nader and Kucinich are for eliminating those sources of cancer? Our nation has turned into a greedy hellhole and GOD IS CONTINUING TO PUNISH AMERICA TO ETERNAL DAMNATION for it. James Trafficant was right when he warned about China taking over America before he went to jail !
Excellent comment by you and CV. Quite true. Sadly true. But Unions might still throw off the Andy Sterns of the world and return to advocating for their members.
Unions under honest leadership can be a wondeful force to check the Companies.
But don't blame our entire nation for what a greedy segment has been able to do. This ship can be righted again. We always have before and I'm sure we will again.
Henry my man. I love this country to death and I intend to help her heal. I won't have others telling us to leave the country and that our country sucks. It may be a laughing stock on things like labor and health care but there are other nations doing big business with the USA and right now, they are standing on economic fault lines. The economic meltdowns may not be as severe there but they will have to work with the US to repair themselves and each other. God may be punishing America for her sins but not all of us are ready to give up bringing her back to blessed status.
Max...right on target!
The Love It Our Leave It Types are just as bad. If someone here can't say "we need to fix this or that" without getting things thrown at them, those folks doing the throwing are in the wrong country. Disrespect however is just that.
If a Socialist says we should be going Socialist, I disagree totally, but in our country you get to say it and thumb your nose at anyone that doesn't like it. Thats one of our real strengths.
As long as you don't advocate the overthrow of our government, you get to say what you like! Though with this government......(lol)
I think socialism isn't totally bad but I don't think this country is ready to get used to it. Even in the most liberal cities, socialism is still a taboo. Van Jones couldn't get elected even as a dog catcher in San Francisco and last year's results in Pelosi's district confirms this madness. It would take decades for this country to embrace it. There are some freedoms we have and some we lack. We need to get the freedoms we lack and need. Socialism will give some and take some so it's mixed at best. Still, I do not see capitalism as the sole reason labor unions are nearly extinct. To me, they're just paying the price of pandering to the corporate interests and trying to copy their authoritarian and greedy behavior.
Sioux Rose
MAX: The law of karma means that each person attracts the results their own actions put into motion. That same law applies to nations. There IS universal law. So it is not about "God punishing," it is about "as ye reap, ye sow," a universal law that is as much a fact of existence as is the law of gravity. When you make it about a personal God, you take away the responsibility that belongs to those who have misused the double-edged sword, a/k/a gift of free will.
Darn SR, lets quit sowing the bad stuff then!
Sioux Rose
Speak for yourself, Henry. I would wear no uniform nor swear allegiance to any army that pretends in patriotism to defend the indefensible.
Folks, let's not fight here. I shall take the blame because I think I lost my mind again going nuts on the "God is punishing ..." and I apologize for my madness. I think I need to take some more time to overcome it. Henry8, please don't take it hard on Sioux. I like what both of you have to say. Maybe it's just me getting scared of politics happening here on the local level and signaling bad omens coupled with my bitter feelings that politics sucks.
There's no blame here Max. SR was just commenting and I NEVER take it "hard" on SR. She's a doll and has many great viewpoints. She just sometimes misunderstands what I am trying to say....which isn't hard sometimes...I don't have her gift with clarity of writing.
But be sure neither SR or I are "fighting".....I'm far too smart to get in a fight with her anyway (lol) She'd cut me up!
Sioux Rose
HENRY: You always get the charm award, or otherwise realize that Leo women (and men) like flattery! Pisces, as a water sign, a dual one at that, is a tough number for a fixed fire sign to understand. Perhaps I have on occasion misunderstood your words. Like you, I find this forum mentally invigorating. I've had a very demanding two weeks and am still trying to catch up with a number of tasks, all mentally taxing. Hence, the brevity.
I think you misunderstood my comment. It had nothing to do with the military in that respect.
Labor's problems with it's leadership go back much farther than Reagan. During the growth of the Unions up through the thirties and forties, Organized Crime was a very strong player helping to build membership and enforce discipline. By the fifties, the Teamsters were wholy-owned subsidiary of the Mafia and Bobby Kennedy hired on as a prosecutor in '57 to fight them.
Unions also were a natural medium for Communists, many of whom were the driving force in Union organizing efforts, for which they were targeted by the Conservatives of their day.
As for why they support Democrats? Because Democrats are, historically, more likely to support Labor than Republicans. And why they don't back Nadir? Because his anti-corporate agenda, if it was ever realized, would put those Union laborers out of their jobs. And because it's unlikely that he would ever poll more than a few percent. Backing a sure loser in counter productive.
Right or wrong, Unions back those that will do best for their members and it's a hard-headed choice, that they back realistic candidates that have a real chance of winning rather than throwing their support behind marginal ones.
At the pit of Unions' corruption, in the late fifties and sixties, Union Bosses, by this time, drawing big salaries, became chummy with top Republicans, Nixon had ties to Union Leaders (mostly through his Mob connections), but Republicans as a whole, since the birth of the movement have been staunch opponents of Unionization. It cuts into their profits and helps lift all of the workers, not just Members.
When Reagan came in, his first official act was to fire the PATCO workers, signalling the end of the Union Movement (or so they hoped). Since 1980, the power of Unions has been seriously damaged, not just by that firing, but by outsourcing jobs, first to "right to work" states, then out of the country altogether.
If we ever get our manufacturing base back and move back to being a producer as opposed to just a consumer, Unions should play a strong role in that recovery. They should be campaigning for new trade deals that mandate Worker treatment (as well as environmental and product safety) standards that match ours. That rising tide that they created that lifted all laborers' boats here in America, now must be applied worldwide and International Unions are the vector for that reform.
As far as god and Trafficante, you are on your own.
A patriot protects his country against its government.
Thank you, Jim Goodman. The middle class owes it's existence to unions, and it's demise to the return of the robber baron era. As before, workers need to unite to regain what they've lost in the last 30 years. Will people again have to fight and die for their rights?
I believe there is a less violent way to reclaim our country. If everyone refuses to vote for ANY politician who accepts corporate campaign contributions, we can elect people who will actually represent us instead of the corporations. We cannot legislate corporate cash out of politics, but we can use the power of our vote to change this current completely corrupt system. We need to do this together.
END CORPORATE WELFARE!
When the people fear their government there is tyranny,
when the government fears the people there is liberty.
~ Thomas Jefferson
Actually, BeForKids, it would be possible to legislate corporate cash out of politics, but that would require that the Supreme Court overturn the 19th Century decision stating that a corporation is a person, and therefore entitled to Constitutional rights. Unfortunately, the current court is not likely to do that, and in fact, seems ready to do away with all restrictions on corporate (and union) campaign contributions.
The genesis of Corporate Personhood was not actually a Supreme Court decision, but the interpretation of the Santa Clara decision written by the Clerk of the Court, a former Corporate lawyer. It does not have the force of law and it should be vulnerable to challenge.
More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Clara_County_v._Southern_Pacific_Railroad