Happy Labor Day all. For everyone who puts in a long day at the office or factory today is for you. For all those who have to figure out how to earn a living by working and has the day off we can thank Labor Unions who pushed for this holiday at the end of summer. Labor Unions often get a bad rap. They aren’t perfect. But for the most part, Labor Unions have protected workers rights against overwhelmingly powerful corporate interests. Unions have insisted on safety requirements and unions have insisted on worker’s access to health care. Sick employees can’t be productive. Good managers and management understand that. But in the complex world of modern health care and insurance this fact continues to get short shrift. Take grocery workers as an example.
They are about to go out on strike in an already difficult economic environment. It must be very important for them to walk a picket line at this time when there are less jobs than ever and high unemployment. Safeway corporation-(Von’s and Pavillion’s) made in excess of 4 billion dollars last year. That is BILLION-with a “B”. And yet are insisting that workers lose their health benefits unless they pay the full bill. Seems to me they want to pay their shareholders dividends instead of investing in the very workers who might even raise their sales!
So perhaps all those who are anti-union-should not have the day off today.