So, growing up I can remember reading copies of The Butcher Workman. This newsletter / magazine was in our home because my father was a proud member of the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America.
In my own working life, I have literally sat on both sides of the table as both labor and management, and as a long-time public employee I have been a union member in several of my jobs.
It's easy to look at the numbers and see that since the eighties, with the ascendance of neo-liberalism, American workers have been losing ground constantly. The current increase in pro-unionism seems to be an enough-is-enough response to that.
Today is Labor Day, the one day set aside for capitalists to pretend they care and to honor the American worker. But we would do well to remember this: the holiday was established by unions.
You could look it up.
So maybe instead of just saying Happy Labor Day...
... we could remember the source...
... and continue to support the struggle.
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