Labor Day 2005:
Your Day!

On Monday September 05, 2005 the annual observation of Labor Day will take place across the country. Unfortunately, this day has lost its significance along with so many other things in this country. Labor Day has come to be known as simply the last bash of summer, without regard for the true meaning of the day.

Historians debate on the true origin of the day. There are those who feel the Knights of Labor started the celebration with a parade in 1882 that marked the first observance of a day for America’s workers. Other’s claim it was Irish immigrant Peter McGuire and 100,000 workers went on strike in the spring of 1872, and marched through the streets, demanding a decrease in the long working day. In 1894, President Grover Cleveland and both Houses of Government passed the law making Labor Day a national holiday to be celebrated the first Monday in September. This coming a year after they had sent 12,000 troops to stop a strike at the Pullman Company in Chicago. Labor Day was at the time a way to blot out the wounds of the past.

America was born in the pre-dawn years of the industrial revolution. Britain witnessed the first phase of the movement as the invention of the steam engine, followed by the production of the steam locomotive in the late 1700’s brought forth the mechanical age. As America was just testing her independence, Britain’s attention turned toward the invention of electricity and the gasoline engine in the early 1800’s.

America made her first strike toward the industrial revolution with the introduction of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1793. The established textile mills of Great Britain competed with the new upstarts in New England for Southern Cotton, fueling America’s Civil War. In the year’s that followed the war, America saw her population began to push west and drive out the native people. Steel mills and coal mines began to spring forth, as the iron horse pushed its rails westward opening urban areas, springing towns and brining commerce. It was this commerce that built America and gave birth to the “captains of industry.”

These “captains of industry” became household names. Names such as Carnegie, Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Ford and J.P. Morgan dominated the headlines as fortunes were made and legends were born. These “captains of industry” had buildings erected in their honor, streets named after them and history recorded their deeds. They were giants among men, living legends and listed among the greats. While no one is diminishing the accomplishments of these “captains of industry”, we should never forget that giants do not exist except in fairy tales.

While the visionaries led the way, it was the nameless, faceless millions that turned the wheels of industry and moved the wheels of progress. They labored in the mines brining out the coal; they turned the slag to steel in the mills; they pounded the metal into frames and assembled the frames into automobiles. Others drew the plans; developed methods for making purer steel, answered the phones, cleaned the buildings and together built a nation. America plowed ahead like a bulldozer, cutting new trails for others to follow. While the “captains of industry” held the controls, the nameless, faceless millions pushed the tracks and provided the power as this beast of commerce rolled forward.

It was not for fame or fortune these nameless, faceless millions strove. It was to feed a family, provide a home and offer a few of the comforts that elude working families through everyday life. Their homes may not have been castles, but they held something as precious as the world’s fortunes; loved ones and families.

Today that same bulldozer the workers fueled is headed in their direction. The “captains of industry” has turned the direction and is attempting to lay to waste the same nameless, faceless millions who have made this country. Trade deals with foreign powers have placed America’s workers in jeopardy while eroding the rights of the workers in countries where this “free trade” has been established. Children are forced to work in factories at practically slave wages with health and safety protections. America’s workers are then forced to compete against slave labor.

America’s workers have watched as their pension plans have been depleted to fund the schemes of the “captains of industry”, as they manipulate the stock market to line their own coffers. Millions of our elderly lie below the poverty line so the mansions and vacation homes of the “captains” can be maintained at levels fit for a king.

Workers have watched their health care be taken away, leaving their families vulnerable to the backbreaking chance of illness. New bankruptcy laws that go into affect in October will eliminate the option of bankruptcy for a working family who have seen their livelihood and homes disappear through outlandish charges from doctors and hospitals. America’s workers have watched their children suffer because health care was unattainable and out of reach.

The “captains of industry” have rewritten overtime laws, OSHA requirements, trade deals, inflationary protections to benefit them while trampling the workers. They hold the keys to the kingdom and pass decrees that further place the working class into the pit of servitude. The working class has one last hope and that is unions. Only unions speak for the working class and only unions keep up the fight for their rights.

For 364 days a year it these “captains of industry” that dominate the headlines and hold the attention of a nation. But, on the first Monday of every September, the focus shifts to the nameless, faceless millions who have paved the way in the past and to those who are still paving the way today. Next Monday is for the person who cleans the building; the person who forms the parts; the person who does the assembly; the person who handles the engineering; the supervisor who runs the department; the inspector who safeguards quality; the nurse who assist in medical; the material handler who delivers the goods; the tool crib attendant; the trades person who repairs the equipment; the truck driver; the union representative; the superintendent; the labor representative - all the people who actually make it go.

Remember; Monday is your day- Labor Day- for those of you who labor for America.

May you forever stand.

Peace My Brothers and Sisters,
John Davis