“I believe in the dignity of labor, whether with head or hand; that the world owes no man a living but that it owes every man an opportunity to make a living.”
John D. Rockefeller
As most of us who are fortunate to be working know, Monday is a federal holiday.
Labor Day was first celebrated by parades and the like by the Central Labor Union of New York in 1882.
In 1894 there was a major strike by the workers of the Pullman Company. It stretched on to the point that the government sent in federal marshals and the U.S. Military, and as a result of that action a clash broke out between the two groups and some striking workers were killed.
This event was called the Haymarket Affair. In the history books of the olden days there was actually mention of this and the Haymarket Affair always turned up on a civics test in one form or another.
After this clash, President Grover Cleveland became so concerned that the Haymarket Affair would become an annual day of discontent in this country he and congress passed in six days the National Holiday we now celebrate in order to appease the unions of the country.
It is ironic that Labor Day, instead of being a day set aside for people who truly work, sweat and save to support their families, was actually set aside to quell possible future dissent by labor unions.
There are times when the working people of this country truly are abused by the companies they toil for; then it is necessary for folks to band together to bring about change that provides fair wages and fair working conditions. Unfortunately, when this change begins to happen, the pendulum doesn’t always stop in the middle; sometimes it swings too far in the other direction, and we end up with unions whose leadership is not only greedy, but takes advantage of workers and businesses alike.
That is what is happening in our country today. We have a group of abusive unions, who by their actions show that they could care less about their country or their members.
The pendulum needs to swing, but it needs to stop in the middle out of fairness to all
Only you, as a working member of a union, can insure that this happens
We here at the Rockdale News hope that you and your family have a restful day and that the light at the end of the economic tunnel begins to shine brightly for all of us.
