While I could go on for hours about how the common worker bee only gets ONE DAY a year dedicated to them for their trials and tribulations, I will instead leave you with the words of Mr. Bragg;
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CkFPyH8v1c[/youtube]
There is power in a factory, power in the land
Power in the hands of a worker
But it all amounts to nothing if together we don’t stand
There is power in a union
Now the lessons of the past were all learned with workers blood
The mistakes of the bosses we must pay for
From the cities and the farmlands to trenches full of mud
War has always been the bosses way, sir
The union forever defending our rights
Down with the blackleg, all workers unite
With our brothers and our sisters from many far off lands
There is power in a union
Now I long for the morning that they realize
Brutality and unjust laws can not defeat us
But who’ll defend the workers, who cannot organize
When the bosses send their lackies out to cheat us?
Money speaks for money, the devil for his own
Who comes to speak for the skin and the bone
What a comfort to the widow, a light to the child
There is power in a union
The union forever defending our rights
Down with the blackleg, all workers unite
With our brothers and our sisters, together we will stand
There is power in a union
http://www.jimhightower.com/node/8419
Nationwide, I’d have to say Joe and Jane Sixpack are losing the labor battle. Sure, employers dedicate one day a year to reflect on labor. But, in general, the other 364 days a year, Joe and Jane are crushed by rising costs and stagnant wages.
The federal poverty level for a family of 4 is $23,550 a year. Here in South Dakota we have many occupational groups that well describe poverty.
In South Dakota there are 65,490 administrative support occupations. 6,590 of these laborers make $9.15 an hour or less. 16,500 of these laborers make less than $10.75 an hour. That’s just one of many occupational groups that suffer these types of numbers.
So what do I think about on Labor Day? I think about how lucky I was to have been in a union. At least thee my wages kept up with inflation.
Steve Earle has a radio show on Sirius, and he had some great comments today regarding the destruction of unions.
In my 74 years, the only job I had that considered Labor Day a holiday was the couple years that I taught school. For a few of those years one of the jobs that I had was even in a Federal Office.