So it's "Labor Day", but what exactly is it that "we" as Americans are "celebrating"?
Labor Day "began in 1882, originating from a desire by the Central Labor Union to create a day off for the "working man". Isn't that ironic, considering that now, this day which was supposed to be a day off for the "working man" is now a day off for the corporate boss man?
It's a day off for the corporate managers and executives, a day off for government employees, but not a day off for the "working man". Not only does the "working man" do the work on "Labor Day", next month the boss man him/herself get their very own "holiday", "Boss's Day". "It has traditionally been a day for employees to thank their superior for being kind and fair throughout the year. " Oh yeah, like everyone's boss man is such a kind, fair person. Right. But for "labor day", most Americans only see it as "the end of summer" (even though it's still 90 degrees outside), a day off from school, and if you're important enough (meaning you don't work in retail, fast food, etc.), a day off from work, and maybe for a BBQ with friends and family.
In politics, labor day is a day when the Democrats celebrate "labor". That's all fine and good, but I'm very frustrated with the fact that whenever Democrats talking about "labor" it always means "organized labor". It always means unions. Now, I'm not going to argue for or against unions here, other than to say that they are not always what they are hyped up to be by the Democrats and liberals in general. Nor are they as horrible as Republicans and their corporations say. I'm just saying from my own personal experience in a union, which included serving as a Union Steward for 2 and a half years - unions need a lot of work to actually improve things for their members and they need to do a lot of work on behalf of their members that they seem to be unable or unwilling to do at this point in time. This brings me to my main arguement. Why is it that Democrats only seem to be interested in "labor" that is unionized? Why is it that Democrats believe the answer is always a union? Why can't the Democrats be for all workers, those who are union and those who are not, and those who do not want to be union?
It's my belief that while it is fine for Democrats to be for unions (and the unions do need political power behind them), they should also be for strong labor laws that would give every worker rights and benefits that unionized workers enjoy, and sometimes benefits union members themselves do not even have. To start with, how about these labor laws -
- 40 Hour Work Week is law.
- Any work past 40 hours is double overtime.
- Any work past 8 hours a day is overtime.
- No mandatory overtime.
- Paid sick days - 12 per year, an average of one per month.
- Three weeks paid vacations per year, an average of one every four months.
- A minimum wage that is a living wage, at least $9.50 an hour and index it for inflation.
- A law that says the CEO can not earn more than let's say 200 times more than the lowest paid worker.
I don't think any of those proposals are too radical. I'm sure I could come up with many more that I believe are fair. This isn't "socialism". They are not "anti-business" proposals. They are simply to value work, not only wealth, and to help create economic fairness.
I believe that the Democratic party should stand for all workers, all of those who are union, all who wish to be in unions but are unable, as well as those who are not in unions and do not wish to be in unions. All labor, not only "organized" labor should be valued.