The official end of summer is here with the return of the Labor Day Weekend. These days it is celebrated as a long weekend of barbecue and Nascar, but it was not always that way. For anyone that's ever complained about unions, please remember that it is unions that won the 40 hour work week, paid sick time, overtime, Workers' Compensation, OSHA, and any of the other rules that keep the workplace relatively safe for all workers, and paved the way for the American middle class whose living is currently being offshored. These concessions were not all won in board rooms and meetings. Some were hard fought in the streets of American cities. There were casualties among the heroes of labor, and we should not forget them. Buy American made if you can, and by all means look for the union label.
Monday, September 07, 2009
Look For The Union Label
The official end of summer is here with the return of the Labor Day Weekend. These days it is celebrated as a long weekend of barbecue and Nascar, but it was not always that way. For anyone that's ever complained about unions, please remember that it is unions that won the 40 hour work week, paid sick time, overtime, Workers' Compensation, OSHA, and any of the other rules that keep the workplace relatively safe for all workers, and paved the way for the American middle class whose living is currently being offshored. These concessions were not all won in board rooms and meetings. Some were hard fought in the streets of American cities. There were casualties among the heroes of labor, and we should not forget them. Buy American made if you can, and by all means look for the union label.
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1 comment:
So great that you posted this little reminder about how much unions and the people who foght for them, have contributed to so much of what we take for granted in the work place today. Health insurance one of the big ones. I still remember what it was like raising a young family before my husband joined the union and we had health insurance.
And - 40 hour weeks with paid overtime.
Thank you for reminding us all of how much we owe those who went before.
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