On this Labor Day

Convicted for forming a union - The Tolpuddle Martyrs

Since 1894, America has celebrated the efforts of the American worker on the first weekend in September. Labor Day is a "creation of the labor movement," which also brought us:

• the 40-hour work week
• workers' rights
• fair labor laws
• the WEEKEND
• and the middle class

Today, however, unions and the middle class are struggling. Public employees have become scapegoats for the country's economic ills, while fat cat corporate CEOs invest in the political campaigns of Tea Party candidates who will do their bidding. Unions are frustrated by the lack of action on the part of President Obama, too.

Our newest Poet Laureate, Michigan's Philip Levine, writes about the working class, especially those on the lines of what used to be our state's bread and butter, the auto industry. From his poem, "What Work Is":

We stand in the rain in a long line
waiting at Ford Highland Park. For work.
You know what work is—if you’re
old enough to read this you know what
work is, although you may not do it.
Forget you. This is about waiting,
shifting from one foot to another.
Feeling the light rain falling like mist
into your hair, blurring your vision
until you think you see your own brother
ahead of you, maybe ten places.
You rub your glasses with your fingers,
and of course it’s someone else’s brother,
narrower across the shoulders than
yours but with the same sad slouch, the grin
that does not hide the stubbornness,
the sad refusal to give in to
rain, to the hours of wasted waiting,
to the knowledge that somewhere ahead
a man is waiting who will say, “No,
we’re not hiring today,” for any
reason he wants. 

This post is, of course, personal. I am a union member. My union is under constant scrutiny, some deserved, but most of it unwarranted and politically motivated. A few years ago, I discovered I was descended from a long line of laborers, some who were severely punished for trying to form a union. The Tolpuddle Martyrs, six Dorset farm workers, were shipped to Australia for the crime of having "taken an illegal oath." 

On this Labor Day, I remember my forefathers and their struggles, and hope that American unions regain their respected place as a provider of steady employment and fair labor practices.