Labor Day has arrived and signals the 'end of summer' as nights get chillier and children and grandchildren go back to their respective schools. Ideally, we will enjoy a luxurious fall season with leaves ablaze and many beautiful days before snowflakes once again arrive.
Labor Day was formally decreed across the United States in 1894 by then President Grover Cleveland. The new federal holiday was swiftly approved by Congress and has been with us since.
Labor Day has, like so many special holidays, lost a lot of its meaning for many people. For some, it is simply another three-day week-end. For others, it is the time when the Muscular Dystrophy fund drive is hosted by Jerry Lewis, and so on.
I have never been a member of organized labor, unless by accident during my six-week 'career' at the Estwing hammer plant in Rockford, IL in the early 1960s. I have friends who were and still are members of unions. I have many acquaintances who were and/or are members of unions. My feelings about the labor movement tend toward the position that they were very important during the later years of the Industrial Revolution and during the early third of the 20th century. Since that time, I am convinced that unions, in general, have lost the essence of what made them so dominant during those times. Child labor laws have curtailed that practice. Employers have come out of the dark ages in most cases and recognize they must treat their employees as humans who are part of the reason for the success or failure of their business.
Among the strongest unions today is the SEIU (Service Employees International Union) run by Mr. Andy Stern. He has proved to be a consummate organizer and is one of the brightest people in organized labor today of which I'm aware. I see entities such as 9 to 5 with the soon to be held referendum that would bind employers in Milwaukee to offering sick leave for all employees. These organizations tend to signal the changes that have been occurring in our country. The strongest union is one that organized workers in the 'service' sector. The old United Auto Workers (UAW) struggles with the malaise felt throughout that industry. Coal miners no longer have the clout that once was theirs.
I see the Democrats in Congress still carrying the water for labor with such things as the open vote effort that would certainly favor organizers and quiet the opposition. Political power changes hands periodically and that has a great deal to do with the ebb and flow of organized labor. Labor organizations still have the ability to mobilize tens of thousands of 'volunteers' to get out the vote. Republicans can only stand in the shadows and lament that they do not have similar clout.
I wonder where organized labor will be in a decade or two or three. I don't know but I do recognize that change will continue at the same or a faster pace. Will organized labor find ways to make inroads in India or China? Will those governments permit such organizing? If the government of China permits organizing, I wonder at what cost to the workers? Will unions in the U.S. come together to maintain a level of strength that many have already lost individually? If so, where will the new leaders come from? I doubt that heavy industry will be the source of leadership; it more likely comes from the service sector of our economy given the massive shifts in employment in our country.
At any rate, I trust you will have or have had a very pleasant Labor Day 2008.
