He hasn't said much to me about the coming election, though I've never known him to vote Republican.
Much of his life he worked desk jobs in construction and repair of US Navy ships, but earlier on, as he was learning the trade, he had more hands-on positions in the shipyards of the SF Bay Area.
In our house, there were bulkheads and passageways, not walls and halls. There was never any doubt that the US government provided the paychecks that made it possible for us to have a decent lifestyle. Even from the early days, thanks to those union wages, and the GI Bill that made it possible to buy a house before I was in kindergarten, we had a more than decent life.
Jobs, largely created by the government to enhance our infrastructure and to employ men coming home from WWII, and later, Korea, made the middle class grow.
My parents were able to retire into a nice house near the former Naval Training Station where they met during WWII.
Over the Great Orange Anchor, see the email he sent today.
On this day in 1946, as a Journeyman Shipfitter in Local No. 9, I marched up Market Street with hundred if not thousands of other loyal union members representing all kinds of trades and services in San Francisco. I doubt if such a number will ever march up Market Street again.
I should tell you that as an employee of the Navy Yard there was no requirement to be a member of a union, but I strongly supported the Unions then as I do to this day.
Happy Labor day.
My father will be 90 in February. As far as I know, he hasn't been a union member since he left that particular position for a desk job sometime in the '50's. But he knows how important unions are, and he will never forget.
An enemy of unions will never get his vote. Or mine.
UPDATE: Thank you for the rec list-- from me, and my family.