Happy Labor Day!

[minoanmiss]

*inchoate thanks to generations of people who organized and struggled and fought and died for my rights as a worker*

There is power in a union!

I should post the awesome letter I got from my union steward but I forgot to send it to myself. I'll try to find it at work this week.

Comments

[amaebi]

Long live the unions*, and may we all and all workers make them live!

* With the exception of US police unions in their current form.

[minoanmiss]

there is no tool that cannot be turned to evil in the wrong hands, alas.

[amaebi]

Very, very true. And the quest for a tool that will never be misused, can never be misused, is a fool's errand. And a base bad-faith tool of fending off useful change.

[hitchhiker]

amen!

[acelightning73]

The Internationale, the anthem of the Wobblies, the "IWW"

https://youtu.be/Vw79U_xjDms?si=Gm7gwZJ1D8Ul6y80

I wish there were a version of Leslie Fish (a card-carrying Wobbly all her life) singing the Internationale.

[flamingsword]

Leslie Fish was a Wobbly? Cool!

[acelightning73]

As far as I know, she's still alive and still a Wobbly.

[minoanmiss]

Kinda sorta, alas. Some years ago she lost her goddamn mind and became very conservative.

But I will still sing her song about the IWW in space. (Well, I need to re-learn it first)

[acelightning73]

She's very vocally in favor of responsible gun ownership, which puts her adjacent to the far Right. But "Wobblies" are almost "commies" to some people. And some of her recent songs have been pretty good - this one's almost as scary as "Hymn to the Night Mare", but in a different mythology:

https://youtu.be/bvK887d9dQM?si=SxParNlI1Hlm6mSB

[princessofgeeks]

so glad you get to be in a union now.

[sabotabby]

Happy Labour Day! I marched and then went to the Ex (big annual fair thingie).

[full_metal_ox]

(Image description: a stocky middle-aged man with curly dark hair and a moustache—somewhat resembling Mario—in rugged work clothing, with fairy wings and carrying a star-tipped wand, is hovering above a wonderstruck little girl huddled in bed with her teddy bear, saying, “I’m the Labor Day Fairy, and I’m here to teach you the true meaning of collective bargaining.”

Source: Benjamin Schwartz for the New Yorker, 1 September 2014: https://www.newyorker.com/cartoons/daily-cartoon/daily-cartoon-monday-september-1st-labor-day)

[minoanmiss]

Ahahahhahah I love it.

I just went to try to find a post about back when I worked at Tufts Medical Center . When the nurses went on strike in 2017 they laid the anti-union stuff on thick to keep my group (secretaries) from unionizing and in the meeting I was forced to attend I laughed my way through it because it was all so ludicrous.

[flamingsword]

If your union’s letter was enough to impress you, I would like to read it!

here we are!

[minoanmiss]

Dear Brothers and Sisters of Laborers’ Local 380,


Now that summer is coming to a close and Labor Day is soon upon us, let’s be reminded of the true meaning of Labor Day. In 1894 Labor Day was declared a national holiday and is observed on the first Monday in September. Working conditions in the country’s factories, railroads, mills, and mines were grim. Employees, including many children, were often required to work 12 hours a day, six days a week, in crowded, poorly ventilated spaces. Supervision was harsh and punishments were handed out to those who talked or sang as they worked. Calls for shorter work days and better conditions came from worker strikes and rallies in the decades after the Civil War. On Sept. 5, 1882, Union Leaders in New York City organized what’s thought to be the first Labor Day parade. Tens of thousands of Labor Union Members—bricklayers, jewelers, typographers, dress and cloak makers, and many other tradespeople—took unpaid leave and marched with their locals. The day culminated in picnics, speeches, fireworks, and dancing.

Labor Day had become an official holiday in 24 states by the time it became a Federal Holiday. Labor Day parades and other festivities demonstrate the strength and esprit de corps of trade and labor organizations. As well as the strength of the American worker. As we enjoy the upcoming weekend, let us remember and celebrate the Labor Leaders that have come before us and created the working conditions we are accustomed to (i.e. Weekends, Paid Time Off, Holiday Pay, 40 Hour Work Weeks, Overtime, and many more). Many of these Labor Leaders lost their lives fighting for the rights we take for granted.

Take pride in the History of the Labor Movement and what they have done not for just their members but for all workers. As Laborers’ Local 380 Members you too are part of the ongoing history of the Labor Movement. As Business Manager I am so grateful to have the opportunity to represent you and all of Local 380’s Membership.

In closing, Labor Day is your Holiday! Thank you for all your hard work! Local 380’s Members have had a tough few years and I am proud of each and everyone that fought through these dark couple of years. So enjoy Your Day, Labor Day! Thank You!


--
Richard C. Kirk Jr

Re: here we are!

[flamingsword]

That’s pretty good!

[cmcmck]

Tolpuddle remains in my memory from several visits.