I always felt a company’s greatest asset was their staff. But, we weren’t treated that way. I’m glad to see several companies changing their view of staff.
My Daddy was a proud member of Bricklayers Local Union #8 in Austin, Texas. I don't know how much my mom liked the union, especially the monthly dues when it had been raining and daddy wasn't able to work. No work, no pay is hard on a family of 4, eventually 6. But Daddy insisted those dues be paid. He worked hard in that union to ensure the members were soon guaranteed a retirement check, and he and my mom lived better during their retirement years because of it. When daddy passed, his union brethren were some of the first there to help my mom. Because I was the oldest of us 4 kids, I got to keep daddy's union pin, and I am proud to have it. I am also proud that I joined whatever union was available wherever I worked. I believe in unions. I think they make lives better. I'm so glad they are coming back.
I felt the sentiments expressed by Janet Tracy. I worked in what were non-union positions, first as a research assistant and later as a researcher in a medical lab and then as a teacher of biology in an independent school for girls. I worked while running my household and raising two children. Neither of these jobs produced profit, so my salaries reflected the lack of value given these jobs by our society. As a teenager, I worked as a file clerk in an insurance company for three summers as well as a saleperson at retail clothing stores. I certainly grew up knowing the necessity and value of work. My father was a union man. I remember him leaving the house early, so that he could walk the picket lines at striking locations before starting his evening shift job. My step father was also a union man, active in recruiting and creating news letters for his union. My great uncles, great aunts, and uncles on both sides of my family were also union people. I am proud of the work they did and understand the protection the unions afforded them. I also understand that as some unions became powerful, those union leaders gained great power. Power can corrupt, and some union demands and corruption led to the destruction of companies and industries. My husband and I are in our 70's and still working because our jobs do not include physical labor. The jobs we perform do not produce profit, so our pay is minimal in supporting our expenses. We work for the pride of accomplishment. Thank you for honoring Labor Day.
Wow. I started reading Langston Hugh’s poetry in college. It moved me and instructed me then as it does now. However, I hadn’t seen this poem until now. Thank you.
I have read many of contributing comments tonight and keep thinking of the dichotomy of the American Labor Force. For instance the black men that built the White House we all hold so dear as an icon of America. Or the minimum wage that in most states still is ridiculously low “enabling” one to work several jobs to pay rent, put food on the table for their families”, and pay unexpected medical expenses! Also all those paid army soldiers that filled the native Americans’ blankets with smallpox virus to kill as many as possible! These are all Labor Day examples! On the other hand there are the vets that defend this country that was enabled to go to college on the conclusion of WWII that greatly contributed to the betterment of them, their families and America in general. The great inventions that improved everyone’s lives like the cotton gin, invented by a Black man or the ironing board invented by a black woman or the light bulb, the telephone, etc Oh America!!!!
Enough with "the nobility of labor". A better way to honor it would be for greedy shareholders to say"We have enough. Let the people who actually make these dividends possible enjoy the lion's share".
The unions became a victim of their own success. And were broken as a result. I saw this close up in my own shop. The Steelworkers insisted on collective bargaining agreements which strangled flexibility and killed accountability. That made me determined to replace workers with automated systems. And finally we were forced into receivership and sold off by the bank in pieces. Unions and management must become enlightened and realize that the capitalist system will devour itself if we do not work together. And that begins by embracing the dignity of all work and workers.
There are so very many pressing problems that robots cannot resolve. But we ignore those problems completely. We must change that focus. The world is a mess. Vast amounts of money flow around generated by algorithms owned by a very few very rich folks who care not a whit about the conditions of the average man and woman and child. A few, like Gates understand that this is unsustainable.
When the robots finally take over completely we will have to change our notion of "labor". And that is nearly upon us. Labor Day is fast becoming meaningless to most people under sixty. And that is a shame.
I just finished reading ‘The Warmth of Other Sons’ by Isabel Wilkerson, a well-researched and timely examination of the division of labor and race that has wreaked havoc on our nation since its beginning and reared its ugly head during The Great Migration from South to North and West from 1915-1970. Its terrible and powerful message is worth sharing, digesting, studying, and ACTING upon before it tears our nation apart. We owe our fellow Americans more than the lowest jobs and the lowest pay, the worst housing and the last seat on the bus.
Thank you for reminding all of your community's members of the nobility of all labor. I have been a SAHM for the past 19 years, I have also been a teacher, a child-care worker, a nanny, cleaned houses, worked at a family business as a child (provided labor just a couple hours a week). My dad taught me that no work was beneath me -if it needed to be done. Best lesson ever and one far too many may not have learned.
WOW. A wonderful Black non-commissioned officer spent his day off on Juneteenth working for free to help me move. He wouldn't accept pay or even a meal out. When I told him the irony was not lost on me, he smiled his beautiful smile and said "we always help our family. This is one of the joys of life."
I always felt a company’s greatest asset was their staff. But, we weren’t treated that way. I’m glad to see several companies changing their view of staff.
My Daddy was a proud member of Bricklayers Local Union #8 in Austin, Texas. I don't know how much my mom liked the union, especially the monthly dues when it had been raining and daddy wasn't able to work. No work, no pay is hard on a family of 4, eventually 6. But Daddy insisted those dues be paid. He worked hard in that union to ensure the members were soon guaranteed a retirement check, and he and my mom lived better during their retirement years because of it. When daddy passed, his union brethren were some of the first there to help my mom. Because I was the oldest of us 4 kids, I got to keep daddy's union pin, and I am proud to have it. I am also proud that I joined whatever union was available wherever I worked. I believe in unions. I think they make lives better. I'm so glad they are coming back.
I felt the sentiments expressed by Janet Tracy. I worked in what were non-union positions, first as a research assistant and later as a researcher in a medical lab and then as a teacher of biology in an independent school for girls. I worked while running my household and raising two children. Neither of these jobs produced profit, so my salaries reflected the lack of value given these jobs by our society. As a teenager, I worked as a file clerk in an insurance company for three summers as well as a saleperson at retail clothing stores. I certainly grew up knowing the necessity and value of work. My father was a union man. I remember him leaving the house early, so that he could walk the picket lines at striking locations before starting his evening shift job. My step father was also a union man, active in recruiting and creating news letters for his union. My great uncles, great aunts, and uncles on both sides of my family were also union people. I am proud of the work they did and understand the protection the unions afforded them. I also understand that as some unions became powerful, those union leaders gained great power. Power can corrupt, and some union demands and corruption led to the destruction of companies and industries. My husband and I are in our 70's and still working because our jobs do not include physical labor. The jobs we perform do not produce profit, so our pay is minimal in supporting our expenses. We work for the pride of accomplishment. Thank you for honoring Labor Day.
Thank you, Dan!
Wow. I started reading Langston Hugh’s poetry in college. It moved me and instructed me then as it does now. However, I hadn’t seen this poem until now. Thank you.
I have read many of contributing comments tonight and keep thinking of the dichotomy of the American Labor Force. For instance the black men that built the White House we all hold so dear as an icon of America. Or the minimum wage that in most states still is ridiculously low “enabling” one to work several jobs to pay rent, put food on the table for their families”, and pay unexpected medical expenses! Also all those paid army soldiers that filled the native Americans’ blankets with smallpox virus to kill as many as possible! These are all Labor Day examples! On the other hand there are the vets that defend this country that was enabled to go to college on the conclusion of WWII that greatly contributed to the betterment of them, their families and America in general. The great inventions that improved everyone’s lives like the cotton gin, invented by a Black man or the ironing board invented by a black woman or the light bulb, the telephone, etc Oh America!!!!
Enough with "the nobility of labor". A better way to honor it would be for greedy shareholders to say"We have enough. Let the people who actually make these dividends possible enjoy the lion's share".
The unions became a victim of their own success. And were broken as a result. I saw this close up in my own shop. The Steelworkers insisted on collective bargaining agreements which strangled flexibility and killed accountability. That made me determined to replace workers with automated systems. And finally we were forced into receivership and sold off by the bank in pieces. Unions and management must become enlightened and realize that the capitalist system will devour itself if we do not work together. And that begins by embracing the dignity of all work and workers.
There are so very many pressing problems that robots cannot resolve. But we ignore those problems completely. We must change that focus. The world is a mess. Vast amounts of money flow around generated by algorithms owned by a very few very rich folks who care not a whit about the conditions of the average man and woman and child. A few, like Gates understand that this is unsustainable.
When the robots finally take over completely we will have to change our notion of "labor". And that is nearly upon us. Labor Day is fast becoming meaningless to most people under sixty. And that is a shame.
I just finished reading ‘The Warmth of Other Sons’ by Isabel Wilkerson, a well-researched and timely examination of the division of labor and race that has wreaked havoc on our nation since its beginning and reared its ugly head during The Great Migration from South to North and West from 1915-1970. Its terrible and powerful message is worth sharing, digesting, studying, and ACTING upon before it tears our nation apart. We owe our fellow Americans more than the lowest jobs and the lowest pay, the worst housing and the last seat on the bus.
Thank you for the poem. I was not familiar with that one.
Thank you for reminding all of your community's members of the nobility of all labor. I have been a SAHM for the past 19 years, I have also been a teacher, a child-care worker, a nanny, cleaned houses, worked at a family business as a child (provided labor just a couple hours a week). My dad taught me that no work was beneath me -if it needed to be done. Best lesson ever and one far too many may not have learned.
Thank you for the poem by Langston Hughes. I have appreciated his poetry since I first came upon it years ago.
Mr. Rather, I have a question for you. What do you think would be Tim Russert take on all of this that is going on in politics today? Just curious
WOW. A wonderful Black non-commissioned officer spent his day off on Juneteenth working for free to help me move. He wouldn't accept pay or even a meal out. When I told him the irony was not lost on me, he smiled his beautiful smile and said "we always help our family. This is one of the joys of life."