"Workingman's Blues"

The Monday before last was a national holiday, Labor Day. I suppose most of us celebrate these Monday holidays with the same enthusiasm we would work up for an extra Saturday in any given week. Labor Day for most of us is marked as the last official weekend of summer. It’s a day to get that last boating trip in, do that last camping trip, or have a big family picnic before the kids go back to school. Most years I’m guilty of this inattention to the meaning and purpose of the Labor Day too. Most of us slough off the minor holidays without much thought, saving our enthusiasm for the “gift giving holidays” or the major over-eating occasions.

This year I gave Labor Day a lot more thought. This is a very important year, and the idea of “labor” should be taking a front row seat in how our future is decided. If the politicians are going to make hay talking about the unemployed, they might start by showing a little respect to those who are employed- most particularly this year.  I did a  little research and discovered that Labor Day was first celebrated in 1882 in New York City. Then it was just a local event. For years afterward different States and Municipalities enacted laws and ordinances making Labor Day an official holiday in their jurisdictions. Labor Day became a National Holiday by an act of Congress in June of 1894. The purpose of Labor Day is to set aside one day “dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country” (USDOL). That sounds like a fairly important aspect of our national life to take note of, and appreciate. Sadly, I doubt many of us really did that. I didn’t.

Later, as I was thinking about this Labor Day I tried to find some big news about national-level politicians really celebrating American Labor. Yes, there were events for the Presidential candidates and some parades organized by union labor, but there was nothing big. In most of the examples I found, Labor Day was just another opportunity to make a stump-speech or pander to already dedicated followers. I found one notable speech made by Congressional Majority Leader, Republican Eric Cantor where he gave a speech congratulating the wrong people on Labor Day. His speech praised big business owners and gave no recognition to those who provide the labor to keep the machine of business running. Only a Republican could speak on Labor Day and praise business owners instead of employees-you know, “labor”. Good evidence about where that Party stands. Don’t get me wrong; I have a great deal of respect for the small business owner, or the sole proprietors who work long hours and give there all to make a business run. But, I don’t think that’s who Mr. Cantor was talking about.

The whole idea of celebrating Labor’s contribution to the country was originally a celebration of organized labor, and then expanded to the idea that we ought to show some appreciation for all the dedicated people who just do the work in this country. Over the last thirty or forty years the pendulum has swung away from honoring labor, to the point that labor is being portrayed as the problem in this country- with organized labor being vilified in ways that would make our grandfathers cry. About the time when America was really expanding into an industrial power, a lot of men, women, and children sacrificed immeasurably to secure rights and privileges we take for granted now. Many of those in that struggle literally gave their lives or suffered great hardships in the struggle with those Teddy Roosevelt called the “Robber Barons”- the industrialists who only sought to use people in the most egregious fashion to maximize profits. Every minor comfort or worker protection laborers have today was won in a hard fought battle. Consider the changes that have taken place. We no longer allow child labor. We have a forty-hour work week. We have safety protections on the job. We have laws that protect us from discrimination and harassment. We have laws that guarantee fair payment practices, and permit us to keep a job when children are born or illnesses overtake us. And in some cases we have the right to organize and bargain collectively. It is so important that we don’t forget what organized labor did for this country, and what the work of Americans built in this country. But, I’m afraid we have forgotten.

The political winds have shifted against Labor. In the seventies nearly 1/3 of all workers in this country were union. Now only about 6% in the private sector are unionized. Over the span of those years the wage standards for working people have remained stagnant, while the wealthiest Americans have reaped the benefits of higher worker productivity to increase their own wealth almost beyond measure. This is no coincidence! I won’t go into the statistics on this- they are plain and easy to see. The real question is what to do about it. We know that labor’s efforts built the country, particularly after World War II -along with a better educated work force. We know that period created the greatest expansion of a middle class in the history of the world and that’s what led to America’s prowess in the world. I can’t understand why these principles were abandoned, other than there came a time when the conservative movement (the Reagan era) was able to convince us that making the wealthiest of us wealthier, would make us rich too. We bought the ‘trickle down” nonsense and we have witnessed the the steady decline of the middle class ever since. Again, this is no coincidence. The American worker is no longer valued for our skills or talents or even our humanity- Labor is now nothing more than a commodity to be gotten at the cheapest price. Our captains of industry and the politicians they own just view the worker like any other commodity in an international market place- nothing special remains of us, no matter what they say in their speeches. 

To reverse this trend we must choose leaders that will once again value the workers in this country and champion the cause of rebuilding the middle class. We must reject those who make the teachers and public employees the bad guys and show no regard for the merchants, the firefighter, the truck drivers, the carpenters, the computer techs, the salespeople, the grocery workers, the nurses, social workers and all those who work for a living. In other words the people Labor Day was supposed to honor.

If you’re a Bob Dylan fan you probably know his song called Workingman’s Blues. The lyrics are good reminder of the times and our forgotten laborer:           (partial lyrics- two verses)

There’s an evening haze settlin’ over town, Starlight by the edge of the creek
The buyin’ power of the proletariat’s gone down, Money’s getting shallow and weak
Well, the place I love best is a sweet memory, It’s a new path that we trod
They say low wages are a reality, If we want to compete abroad.

I got a brand new suit and a brand new wife, I can live on rice and beans
Some people never worked a day in their life, Don’t know what work even means
Meet me at the bottom, Don’t lag behind
Bring me my boots and shoes, and
Sing a little bit of these workingman’s blues

Thanks for looking in.