Labor Day began with a march to demonstrate the power of unions
By RICHARD KLINE
Labor Day did not begin with a
picnic. It began with a march demon-
strating the power of organized labor.
Now Labor Day marks the end of
summer for many Americans and, un-
fortunately, not much more.
Too few of us, far too few, under-
stand what Labor Day truly symbol-
izes — the power of the organized
workers who used their collective
voices to secure an eight-hour day, a
The strength and
well-being of the
nation depends on
America’s working
men and women.
Happy Labor Day
and
Thank You!
Peter DeFazio, Democrat
United States Congress
Oregon, District 4
Paid for and authorized by DeFazio for Congress
AUGUST 16, 2013
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
40-hour work week, a fair wage, and a
path to the middle class.
Despite these facts, the moneyed
elite — the ones who crashed our
economy — have distracted the public
conversation away from the achieve-
ments of the labor movement, demo-
nizing the union worker for having the
gall to ask for a fair wage, decent ben-
efits and retirement security. All
Americans deserve these benchmarks,
but the moneyed elite would have us
believe that economic equality would
be the downfall of capitalism.
How can the labor movement steer
the conversation back to the one we
should be having?
One thing we must do is to remind
our nation that the prosperity of the
middle class, indeed the existence of a
middle class, is tied to a strong labor
movement. Organized labor estab-
lishes wages and benefits that set a
standard observed even by unorgan-
ized companies. The labor movement
forcefully demanded the economic
stimulus that prevented our recent re-
cession from becoming a depression.
Furthermore, we must renew ef-
forts to increase the minimum wage,
which is a national disgrace at $7.25
an hour. We must take stances that
identify ourselves with the 99 percent
of Americans who need protections
from rapacious banks, outsourcing
corporations and corporate raiders,
unfair trade agreements, and right-
wing extremists who seek to over-
throw decades of hard-won social
progress, such as Social Security,
Medicare and OSHA.
This Labor Day, we must resolve
to look for the Union Label, to seek
providers of union services in hotels
and restaurants and post offices. Just
as important, we have to call for poli-
cies at every level of government that
do the same. Our government should
buy American products and services
the same way foreign nations patron-
ize theirs.
We must demand an end to the vi-
cious attacks on public service em-
ployees, who are being scapegoated
for a bad economy. The faults in our
economy result from the excesses of
Wall Street, lax government regula-
tion, corporate greed, and a tax code
filled with loopholes favoring the rich.
Undoubtedly, right-wing extrem-
ists will continue to mislead the public
and point the finger of blame at labor,
but we must remind everyone that we
strengthened the United States and we
built its middle class.
We face a challenge and an oppor-
tunity this year both to support union-
made goods and services and expand
the ideals of unionism to all Ameri-
cans. In fact, in the era of globaliza-
tion, we must unite with our organ-
ized workers around the world. The
issues facing us are to be found glob-
ally and require global action.
If we are to continue our struggle
for a better America, we must revive
Labor Day in its original spirit.
Now is not a time for optimism
based upon the return of a small num-
ber of jobs to the US from offshore.
Neither is it a time for pessimism be-
cause the threats facing us are so se-
vere. Rather it is a time for realism.
We have problems and powerful ene-
mies, but we have faced them before
and we can overcome them again.
(Editor’s Note: Richard Kline is
president of the Union Label & Service
Trades Department, AFL-CIO. This
column originally appeared in the La-
bel Letter newsletter.)
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