Happy Labor Day everyone… or better said, Happy Organized Labor Day. For Labor Day, as David Sirota points out, isn’t a day for pondering a generalized sense of Labor, but to honor Organized Labor specifically. Sirota’s correct, and he encapsulates it well in this passage:
Though we all know when this holiday is and often use it to structure our yearly calendars, the modern version of this occasion has been almost completely divorced from its official meaning. Indeed, the most prominent and pervasive Labor Day iconography usually has nothing to do with the holiday’s actual point and everything to do with discount sales events, the beginning of big-time sports seasons and the last hurrah of summer. Even in the political sphere, much of the rhetoric around this day ends up being generalized platitudes about the economy and jobs, not specific discussions about the importance of organized labor. This, despite the fact that, as the Los Angeles Times notes, “The holiday is the creation of the labor movement, which wanted a holiday to honor workers — and highlight the need for labor reform laws. Quite obviously, the transformation of Labor Day from a highly political occasion to specifically honor worker solidarity into an apolitical vacation day has much to do with the larger attack on the labor movement.
Re-politicizing Labor Day might be key in revitalizing and expanding unionization in America because Sirota is right, Labor Day has been deliberately de-politicized. Moreover, I’m convinced the key to a “more perfect union” – a phrase we all know well – depends on expanding unionization in America. Yesterday, Kathleen Whittemore published this Labor Sunday Book Review where she calls attention to the term “Industrial Democracy,” a concept, I think, is in need of serious revival in our post-industrial, 21st century context. I often use the term “Economic Democracy,” to capture the post-industrial sense of the term. Whittemore defines “Industrial Democracy” in this way:
… “industrial democracy,” meaning that democracy is only authentic if it infuses our work lives as well as our civic lives. For isn’t the pursuit of happiness a farce if you work for slave wages, in unsafe conditions, with no security?
They [the citizenry] cannot be happy without freedom; nor free without security; that is, without the absence of fear; nor thus secure without society.
Whittemore’s observation of farcical happiness and insecurity captures one of Dickinson’s multi-various senses in”absence of fear.” Subsistence security might be another way of thinking about Organized Labor Day. For the true, organic tide that lifts all boats is organized labor, not unfettered capitalism. Organized labor isn’t the perfect union; it has had and still has its own share of faults. Yet, the flaws of organized labor can be readily gleaned and easily rectified with attention and activism. Organized labor does need to address its own issues precisely because it is the single most important feature within the economic landscape that does raise the standard of living for all Americans. I don’t expect unions to be perfect, but rather to perfect alongside the larger union within which they are enclosed. My hope is that labor unions will recognize their great charge and march forth to take their rightful place as the standard bearers of Economic Democracy. I’m not a union member, but today I honor Organized Labor.
Here is a small tribute, a few images and a few sounds that I find meaningful on this day, and a great big giant thank you to Union Members everywhere for keeping the original American Dream alive. In 1967 or so Pete Seeger asked “Which side are you on?” in a song written by Florence Reece in 1931. In 2013, I answer, “I’m on the union side.”
Tom Morello, a performance I think everyone remembers and a moment never to forget.
The First Labor Day
The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883.
In 1884 the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday, as originally proposed, and the Central Labor Union urged similar organizations in other cities to follow the example of New York and celebrate a “workingmen’s holiday” on that date. The idea spread with the growth of labor organizations, and in 1885 Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers of the country.
A Nationwide Holiday
The form that the observance and celebration of Labor Day should take was outlined in the first proposal of the holiday — a street parade to exhibit to the public “the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations” of the community, followed by a festival for the recreation and amusement of the workers and their families. This became the pattern for the celebrations of Labor Day. Speeches by prominent men and women were introduced later, as more emphasis was placed upon the economic and civic significance of the holiday. Still later, by a resolution of the American Federation of Labor convention of 1909, the Sunday preceding Labor Day was adopted as Labor Sunday and dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement.
The character of the Labor Day celebration has undergone a change in recent years, especially in large industrial centers where mass displays and huge parades have proved a problem. This change, however, is more a shift in emphasis and medium of expression. Labor Day addresses by leading union officials, industrialists, educators, clerics and government officials are given wide coverage in newspapers, radio, and television.
The vital force of labor added materially to the highest standard of living and the greatest production the world has ever known and has brought us closer to the realization of our traditional ideals of economic and political democracy. It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation pay tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation’s strength, freedom, and leadership — the American worker.
And a beautiful reminder of the United Farmworkers grape boycott, this silkscreen by Xavier Viramontes
Happy Organized Labor Day!
http://workerscompass.org/a-big-victory-for-oregons-biggest-union/
http://www.labornotes.org/2013/08/longshore-union-quits-afl-cio
Looks like there might finally be a solid backlash against labor leaders who have been capitulating to capital and corporations for quite some time, and anti-union, anti-labor Democrats, (lost my walkin’ shoes)Obama/Trumka.
Very good news.
NQ!!! That first article from Workers Compass is fabulous. Really inspiring. I think it deserves a spot of its own in a post. Would you mind if I created a spot for it in another post? I’ll give you the hat tip 🙂 Haven’t finished the second article yet. Thanks for both!
I saw the articles previously but someone well versed already put them together here with extensive commentary:
http://my.firedoglake.com/wendydavis/2013/09/02/labor-day-hooray-longshoremen-cut-ties-with-afl-cio/#recommend-82752-16888
Your post here works without diluting the thread about labor.
Labor Day in the USA, as explained in this pdf, was meaningfully arranged by the then PTB, to deflect attention from traditionally more militantly toned gatherings and marches, “celebrations,” from the May Day (May 1) worker showings around the rest of the world.
http://www.slp.org/pdf/others/mayday_vs_ld_omj.pdf
Worth the read, hey, they promised me flashbacks, this was written over 75 years ago.
Interesting Labor Day story for you all:
Today at Miller Park I got to be part of the “Hardest Worker” promotion in the third inning. Myself and another man (construction worker) stood on the Brewers dugout and fans were told what we did for a living and were asked to cheer for which of the two of us fans felt was the “hardest worker.” Not surprisingly, I actually heard a fair number of fans boo me when it was my turn to get cheers.
So much for celebrating labor on Labor Day.
Here’s a cheer from me to make up for the undeserved boos – Yayyy! Booo to the booers! Congratulations. You are one of the hardest workers I know, Zach. I admire and appreciate your dedication. Happy Labor Day! Was it fun to stand on the Brewers dug out?
PJ, I expected to get some boos, so I wasn’t bothered by it, but it does say something about where we’re at that folks would boo a union guy at a ballgame on Labor Day.
And thanks for your kind words…it was neat to stand on the dugout, and I did manage to sneak in a great photo of Carlos Gomez.
Here is a rewrite of something I sent out earlier today via e-mail:
My father was employed in the building trades as a plasterer. I was told some of the theaters in Milwaukee were the beneficiary of his skill at ornamental plastering. He was proud to be a union member all of his life. His membership brought financial security to him, my mother, two sisters,and me in the tough times and good. In the tough times, we even used an extra bedroom for my grandfather, uncle and cousin each for brief periods. At his death, my father’s union insurance helped to pay for his burial.
I am not now nor ever been a union member. As part of management for the vast majority of my career, i was opposed to some union work rules as being wasteful and some wage demands as being excessive not justified by productivity or cost of living increase. But I never concluded unions were unnecessary; quite the contrary.
In my opinion, unions serve a moral need against greed and abuse by Capital. Unions are a safety net to prevent return or a slide to economic enslavement of a 19th century serfdom. Unions provide Labor with equality in the form of a partnership with Capital. As a Catholic, I believe unions are a tenet of the Christian faith expressed by “for the laborer deserves his wages…”in Luke 10:7.
Unfortunately, Labor in our state currently has a governor who is enabling greed and abuse by Capital known in another era as “robber barons” and a return or slide to a 21st century form of serfdom for Labor by his unjust ACT10 and starvation wages also known as a minimum wage with no benefits.
It is a sad day for Labor in Walker’s war on workers in Wisconsin today.
Thanx for your comments, Duane. Your father was an artisan? That’s really exciting. Ornamental plastering is quite a skill – an ancient skill. The Minoans, for example, were already applying ornamental plaster pretty masterfully. I wouldn’t want to say they were the first, but I don’t know of any earlier examples. Your father shared a skill with some of the most ancient artisans in Western civilization. I’d love to see some photos of your dad’s work.
I agree that some union rules can be wasteful or unjustifiable. However, given the intensely hostile environment for union workers at this point in time, I think it’s useful to consider if union positions are actually unreasonable or no. Management in this country does tend to make false claims about unions and their impact on productivity and the bottom line. Unfortunately, the default position seems to be the equivalent of “What’s good for Wall Street is good for Main Street” – what’s good for workers isn’t good for business. Both are fallacious instruments for hegemonic control.
I agree with you entirely regarding the counterweight unions serve against greed and abuse, and you put it so well with Luke 10:7. Unionization really is a moral imperative. We have returned to the Gilded Age of robber barons in Wisconsin and in the nation. I do believe, however, we are in the midst of another massive shift in direction – toward tangible solutions for wealth disparity where unions will play a major role.
PJ
In this comment from the FDL link above, defogger is spot on.
Another good reason to query Pocan on what he knows and where he stands with the TPPA (Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement) now regularly referred to by some as the TTP (TransPacific Trade Partnership) where the US needs to pay heed the warning in the above quote about the destruction of all domestic enterprises. This is even more important than ousting Walker, to anyone reading this comment. There is no real controversy I will avoid, Baldwin, is beyond hope for chiming in on this.
Big zero is pushing for ratification before the end of the year. DPW will not comment on this issue.
I appreciate the fact that many D heads likely will be exploding over this comment. NMP (not my problem)
Sorry, thinking faster than my fingers, meant to type, “There is no real controversy I will NOT avoid, Baldwin…”
NQ,
Great comment. The TPP is treacherous – no doubt about it and it will likely go through unless there is resistance to it. But I don’t see resistance happening given all the unnecessary distractions everywhere else. And don’t lose sight of the TransAtlantic agreement either – with the TPP and TTIP ratified both our state and national elections will be rendered meaningless and we’ll just be fast-tracked into 3rd world status. That’s not hyperbole and no exaggeration. Free trade and trade liberalization are absolute frauds. Even Adam Smith understood and valued the need for protecting the interests of local industry from liberalized trade – in his time cottage industries, and interestingly enough, cottage industries that consisted, in the main, of women and widows. There’s no historical argument justifying free trade and no modern-day empirical argument either; and free trade isn’t synonymous with laissez-faire, and not even laissez-faire survived the test of empiricism in 18th century France. Don’t want to run off on all of that, just saying – free trade ideology is fallacious from the start and from every angle.
I’m disappointed with Baldwin, Pocan, and Obama too. I’m not anti-Obama, but I don’t hold to his neo-liberal agenda. On that point, to 2016. I think it’s likely Hilary Clinton will be the Dem candidate, and she is the most qualified person to hold office, however, her greatest challenge will be differentiating herself from Obama’s economic agenda. Not unlike how the Dem candidate in the race for Wisconsin Governor must differentiate his/herself from Walker’s economic agenda. NeoLIberalism is a fundamentally Conservative/Rightward economic position. Now, to Clinton, I don’t fault her for promoting the agenda as a cabinet member, it was her responsibility to do so. I have yet to see, however, how or if her own agenda would differ at all from the one she advanced as Secretary of State. My guess is no, but we shall see. I can’t imagine how she could distance herself from the kind of “innovation economy” and “economic statecraft” she advanced under Obama’s administration. Too distant a leap in my estimation. Unless she makes that leap I don’t see how she’ll be able to devise any cohesive agenda for revitalizing unionization in this country.
Baldwin, Pocan and the national “Progressives” need to seriously engage in devising long term solutions for how to unionize the work place in this country. They need to seriously discuss legislative options for breaking the power hold over the economy. There should be a power hold over the economy and that power hold should solidly reside in the hands of individuals, unions democritizing the workplace, revitalizing the public sector, municipal enterprise, and in worker-owned enterprise. Any talk of invigorating entrepreneurs is hierarchical tripe and rhetorical slime masking the fallacy of “job creators” as the engines of the economy. Any such “innovation economy” talk by Democrats is a non-starter, no-end, no-win proposition in my view.
I don’t see how she’ll be able to devise any cohesive agenda for revitalizing unionization in this country.
Baldwin or any supposed D member of congress would first have to want to do it, so that is that. Revitalizing unions is something that will or won’t come from the unions themselves, but instead of giving $85B of our money to Wall Street every month, how about a plan that would be an actual benefit for the people who are being stuck with that bill, right now, anyway.
$85B a month, free to the world’s, what, six largest banks so they can continue to use our tax dollars to buy up bottom dollar real estate which they defrauded the public to make available, and for them to control and manipulate commodities at further expense to us.
Anyone seriously thinking that $85B a month could have done a world more of good for the people footing that bill anyway, us, by pumping that into a public works (full employment, infrastructure building, medical help, housing distributed wind/solar grid, whatever else you might think appropriate) project instead of going essentially to Wall Street, and to be horded in various ways by the 1%, i.e to move to and build factories in low wage, low regulation countries and to give them more power to manipulate commodities that we get screwed again in needing to purchase for ourselves. We (the general public) are being shafted with our own potential resources and most D party loyalists (from electeds to the voters) are turning a blind eye and twisting themselves inside out, refusing to believe what is happening right in front of them.
So labor could be immediately supported, hopefully with specific inclusion of unions, a real economic engine could be engaged, money spent directly on ourselves, and instead of it evaporating from public control and benefit to the major 1% manipulator$, US based infrastructure with a predictable lifespans of social usefulness could be a legacy to the future. Public money being spent where there is a useful return to the public citizens. It is called a wise investment of our own social wealth and national resources. It is an alternative to the unsustainable, seemingly never-ending, kill and maim everything in its path, extraction capitalism.
Well said. My only departure would be in stressing that unions themselves are essentially guided by legal and regulatory frameworks so in some sense revitalizing unions isn’t up to unions alone. It is up to unions and the people in concert with the people’s governing body (an integral not separate entity) to re-envision unionization.