What
Does Labor Day Mean Today?
By Mary Shaw
31 August, 2007
Countercurrents.org
On
Monday, September 3, Americans will celebrate Labor Day. This annual
national holiday was created more than 100 years ago as a tribute to
the American worker. To most Americans these days, however, Labor Day
seems to be more about end-of-summer picnics, beach excursions, and
an extra day off from work.
The average American isn't
the only one who has lost sight of the contributions and sacrifices
of the workers of this nation. Over the past couple of decades, American
corporations have been ignoring the needs of the workers in order to
focus instead on stuffing the bottomless pockets of the CEOs. And the
U.S. government has been giving them all the help and support they need.
It wasn't always this way.
Take Henry Ford, for example.
Ford introduced the concept of a 40-hour work week for his employees,
and paid them relatively high wages for that era. Since Ford paid his
employees well, they could afford to buy their own Ford cards. It was
a win-win situation.
Ford wasn't without his faults,
however. Ford disapproved of labor unions. Accordingly, he was the last
Detroit automaker to recognize the United Auto Workers union, finally
caving in to pressure from his wife and from other auto manufacturers.
That was before the right
to form labor unions was guaranteed by Article 23 of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights. But still today there are a lot of corporate giants
who either are not aware of that guarantee or just don't care. Also
guaranteed under Article 23, and equally ignored by corporate America
today, are the right to just and favorable conditions of work, the right
to equal pay for equal work, and the right to just and favorable remuneration
that will ensure "an existence worthy of human dignity."
First let's take a look at
the union issue today. Unions protect workers from corporate tyranny.
Unionization gives workers the power to bargain for fair wages, decent
benefits, and safe working conditions. But corporations are engaging
in extreme union busting, illegally threatening and intimidating workers
who want to form or join a union. According to the non-profit organization
Workplace Fairness, 25% of employers have illegally fired at least one
worker for union activity during organizing campaigns, 75% of employers
hire consultants to help them fight union organizing, and 92% of employers
force employees to attend mandatory anti-union presentations. As a result,
union membership in the U.S. has declined significantly in recent years,
from a high of over 35% at the end of World War II to approximately
13% today. By keeping out the unions, corporations can retain only non-union
employees who are so desperate for work that they'll accept poverty-level
wages, unfavorable working conditions, and unfair treatment.
But the decline of unions
in this country is only one of the problems facing American workers
today. From manufacturing to computer engineering, U.S. jobs are being
outsourced to India and China, where employees are willing to work longer
hours for a fraction of what their American counterparts would be paid.
In short, America is being
sold to the lowest bidders, and those whose jobs remain in this country
are at the mercy of their employers.
And it seems that the U.S.
government exists to serve the corporations, not the people.
It's a corporatocracy gone
wild.
As a result, the gap between
the rich and the poor in this country grows ever wider. The middle class
is shrinking, and the American dream has become a pipe dream.
If these things are allowed
to continue over time, what will we be left with? A serfdom?
And what will Labor Day mean
50 years from now?
Mary Shaw is a Philadelphia-based writer and activist.
She is a former Philadelphia Area Coordinator for the Nobel-Prize-winning
human rights group Amnesty International, and her views on politics,
human rights, and social justice issues have appeared in numerous online
forums and in newspapers and magazines worldwide. Note that the ideas
expressed here are the author's own, and do not necessarily reflect
the opinions of Amnesty International or any other organization with
which she may be associated. E-mail:
[email protected]
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