Labor Day

In a time of rapidly increasing income inequality and decreasing union strength looking back on that unions had to create a middle class in America after the days of the robber barons it is amazing to see what great social change they wrought in building a middle class bringing a good paycheck, educational opportunities and safety regulations to the masses.

My parents benefited greatly from being union members—so much so that they voted Republican.  Those chickens have come home to roost in a time of declining middle class and the richest are again getting richer than the rest of us.

I am grateful for the social changes wrought by unions; the wonderful goods, devices and commodities created by labor and for those that have a job they love.

1 comment:

  1. My husband a lifelong labor union member and worker, me I worked the VA and federal jobs and even Kaiser in southern California and I was in a union all the time..Washington is the 4th state in the nation for UNION membership, NY NEW YORK is the highest where our only lives, if you don't belong to a union there in NYC you get the shaft..she travels for her job hired out of southern California (film employee) with great wages and benefits, only because she would not work in LA the film capitol of the west coast, but NYC is the film capital of the rest of the usa, she worked one time in Canada and saw her paycheck shrink to nothing, no more of that foolishness now she declines working in lovely Canada, they don't pay union wages for her job, she went to a university about 15 miles from the Canadian border up in Bellingham WWU many of her classmates were attending for free and many of her facility members were teaching and making a big wage, she got the point..Without unions in the USA the disparity of wages, benefits would be even more than what it is now..I cannot see how the Republicans think that workers should get less wages and benefits..Happy Labor day to you, love your blog, ciao

    ReplyDelete