It’s the first Monday in September. That means today is Labor Day.  (It also used to mean that school would start tomorrow- but that calendar is no longer in vogue.  Some schools started last week and some even began two weeks ago.)

The very first Labor Day was celebrated in New York City way back in  1882, some 140 years ago.  Thankfully, it’s still a national holiday.  And, it looks like- despite the sentiments of a certain party- folks are beginning to realize how important unions really are for the health and safety of many workers.

(You might find it interesting that the State of New York wasn’t the first state to make it a state holiday.  Nope- they dawdled passing the bill, so Oregon earned that honor.)

And, we don’t have a clue whose idea Labor Day really was.  Some say it was Peter McGuire (the co-founder of the American Federation of Labor- the AFL in the AFL-CIO), but a careful analysis indicates it probably was his homonym- Matthew Maguire (of the Machinists Union) who should be honored with the concept.

Over the course of my life, I have been labor and I have been the “man”. (To be honest, I spent a lot more time in my life as the “man”, but, hopefully, I have always been the enlightened version of a boss.) I’ve written before about my first real job– working in a dry cleaning store… But, I was only “labor” in that situation for about a year- I had become assistant manager of the establishment just as that first year ended.

And, then I worked as a waiter for a catering hall.  That position was really was a union gig. (But, most of us workers were not terrible cognizant of- or embedded to- union membership.) After a few years (I think it was three), I became shop steward (Local 923) and eventually an officer (Treasurer) of the union.  That gig was truly short-lived, though, because I became part of the management of that very same catering hall soon thereafter. I resigned that position almost immediately upon my election.

As an employer over the decades, I never paid anyone the minimum wage. There were a few reasons for that. For starters, most folks can’t make ends meet getting paid that little. (I do admit that it was easier to do so some 35 years ago, but…)

I also never hired the “just adequate”, but searched for those with a little bit more.  That quest matches one of my eMail signatures:

The difference between the ordinary and the extraordinary is just that little bit “extra”. Let’s aim for the extraordinary!.

And, as an employer, I always made sure our firm shared its profits with our employees- at least, with those that stuck around with us for at least 18 months.

Given the state of the economy- in the US and around the world; given the way firms don’t truly value the efforts of their employees who make the products or deliver the services that generate the revenue for that firm; and given the way corporate executives extract 350X to 500X the average wages they pay their staff for their own compensation- I personally find it pretty hard to believe that Corporate America truly accepts the concept of “Labor” Day.

But, there are inklings that labor is realizing that it must exercise its power.  There are unionization drives at Starbucks, Amazon, Trader Joes,  Chipotle, among others.  Since the pandemic- where front line workers risked their lives without receiving better pay or even personal protective equipment from their employers- unionizing drives rose 58% this year. compared to the same period of last year.

Workers are frustrated and angry over income inequality and the inability of wages to keep up with costs.  (Until recently, after-inflation wages were static since 1973 for the typical employee. That’s despite the fact that Wall Street and Corporate Profits have soared- and while employee productivity hit record highs.)

There’s also the recognition that young Americans will fare far worse financially than their parents.  So,  instead of opting for more expensive graduate education (which leaves them in debt and not at higher relative economic prosperity than their parents)- the union route suggests itself as a better path to improved working conditions and better pay.  Moreover, the low unemployment rates and sky high job openings means that union drives won’t lead to firing episodes or the cloture of their workplaces.

Finally,  Gallup has just published that union support is now a strong belief for more than 70% of Americans- the highest level since 1965.

Now, we just need to augment the membership above the 12% of all workers.