Behind the Parade and the Picnic

A holiday born in bloodshed:

The first Labor Day in the United States was celebrated on September 5, 1882 in New York City. In the aftermath of the deaths of a number of workers at the hands of the US military and US Marshals during the 1894 Pullman Strike, President Grover Cleveland put reconciliation with Labor as a top political priority. Fearing further conflict, legislation making Labor Day a national holiday was rushed through Congress unanimously and signed into law a mere six days after the end of the strike .... All 50 U.S. states have made Labor Day a state holiday.

The form for the celebration of Labor Day 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," followed by a festival for the workers and their families. This became the pattern for Labor Day celebrations. Speeches by prominent men and women were introduced later, as more emphasis was placed upon the economic and civil significance of the holiday.

If you have a job that pays a living wage and provides health insurance, then celebrate today by giving thanks to the union movement and remembering that American workers never got a single thing they didn't fight, bleed and die for.

Because as soon as unions stopped fighting and started taking their victories for granted, they started losing ground.

Not satisfied with busting unions down from representing 54 percent of the private workforce to less than five percent, not satisfied with crippling OSHA into irrelevance, not satisfied with pro-Wall Street policies that keep wages low and unemployment high, the New Robber Barons are trying to snatch the last few pennies from workers' hands.

Kevin Drum writes:

In a new study, 68% of the workers who were interviewed had experienced at least one pay-related violation in the previous work week. You heard that right. In the previous week alone:

In surveying 4,387 workers in various low-wage industries, including apparel manufacturing, child care and discount retailing, the researchers found that the typical worker had lost $51 the previous week through wage violations, out of average weekly earnings of $339. That translates into a 15 percent loss in pay.

The researchers said one of the most surprising findings was how successful low-wage employers were in pressuring workers not to file for workers’ compensation. Only 8 percent of those who suffered serious injuries on the job filed for compensation to pay for medical care and missed days at work stemming from those injuries.

“The conventional wisdom has been that to the extent there were violations, it was confined to a few rogue employers or to especially disadvantaged workers, like undocumented immigrants,” said Nik Theodore, an author of the study and a professor of urban planning and policy at the University of Illinois, Chicago. “What our study shows is that this is a widespread phenomenon across the low-wage labor market in the United States.”

They were surprised by this? Seriously? Sure, I suppose 68% is higher than I would have guessed, but I sure wouldn't have guessed that this kind of thing was confined to a "few rogue employers" either. How many reports of mistreatment do we have to get before we finally figure out that labor violations are rampant in this country?

I'd just add that if you think you're above this kind of abuse because you're a professional or you work in an office, don't be fooled. This shit trickles up. When was the last time your annual raise beat inflation?