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Happy Labor Day!

Guest post by: Michael Hume

Article Overview: Today in the United States is one of the handful of national holidays that enjoys nearly universal observance: Labor Day. The first Monday of September, we take a day off to pause in remembrance of the sacrifices and achievements of the American worker.

Happy Labor Day!

How Has Your Labor Inspired You? Today in the United States is one of the handful of national holidays that enjoys nearly universal observance: Labor Day. The first Monday of September, we take a day off to pause in remembrance of the sacrifices and achievements of the American worker.

I think there are two types of people celebrating the holiday today - those who don't pay much attention to the purpose behind holidays, and those who are keenly aware of the significance of the day. To the former, it's cool to have a three-day weekend, and if they reflect at all on the purpose of a "labor day" observance it might just be to assume the day off happens every year because some union won it in a long-ago negotiation. To the latter, in the heavily-polarized America of 2011, it's an occasion to either pay homage to (or revile) the history of labor unions in the United States.

There are still people alive in America who remember a time when the average worker was desperately in need of the sorts of protections unions were created to provide. Less than a hundred years ago, workers died by the hundreds in factory fires in New York City, or in earthquakes in San Francisco, or in massacres of striking coal miners (and their families) in places throughout the country, including just a few miles down the road from where I'm sitting right now.

Unions allowed workers to organize and bargain with their employers for better conditions. Safety. A decent wage. A decent shot at the life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness mentioned in the Declaration of Independence. Anything that helps Americans secure those blessings of liberty is a good thing, and that's what unions did, decades ago. Labor unions have been an inspiring part of the American story.

Today, the robber-baron business owners of a century ago have been shunned by our society and bred away over two or three generations during which labor and management have learned much better how to get along. The unions, especially in the private sector, still help facilitate that relationship. And today is a day to observe the important contribution labor (and their representatives) have made to the greatness of the nation.

However, like some corrupt clergy who've perverted religion for their own nefarious purposes over the centuries, union leaders these days have brought a dark cloud to rest over the proud history of labor unions in America. In many cases, especially in public-sector unions (which wouldn't exist if we'd followed Calvin Coolidge's sage advice decades ago), leadership has turned their unions into nothing more than money-laundering operations for liberal political purposes. The powerful unions pressure the government (or big corporations) to give such unbelievable concessions to their members that the business (or government) model becomes unsustainable... they pour billions in pumped-up union "dues" into the coffers of politicians who'll create the conditions they desire... they end up with many more members, forced into paying astronomical union dues... and the cycle repeats itself.

Corrupt unions toppled the auto industry in America. When the politicians they backed got into power in 2006 and 2008, it was only a matter of time before most major auto manufacturing operations were essentially confiscated by the government and handed over to the union thugs who'd ruined those operations' competitiveness in the first place.

May I suggest that this is not what factory workers and coal miners fought and died for? Think about it: who would want to start a business these days, or run a competitive operation, or take risks with capital that could simply be taken away by the very villains for whom they've created opportunities? Corrupt union leaders will continue to run amok until they topple the nation, or are toppled by their own membership.

I just want my liberal friends to ponder two questions that won't be asked in the media these days: Is corruption and abuse of power in union leadership any less evil than the same faults in business leadership? And - be honest - which is really more prevalent in 2011 America?

Let's keep the unions - they're part of what makes America great. But let's limit the dues they can collect and the shenanigans they can perpetrate. Let's dump the corrupt union bosses and restore the virtue that labor has always brought to our nation. Let's use "Labor Day" this year to reflect on the bright future such a grass-roots change effort might bring.

The other day, a union member (not a leader) called into a national talk radio show. The host asked him if he was okay with the dues he paid, and with what happened to that money. The caller replied that he was angry about the fact that the overwhelming majority of his union dues - money taken from his paycheck before he ever saw it - ended up funding a seemingly-unassailable liberal political machine in his area. And this happens in spite of the fact that a majority of his fellow union members (and his fellow Americans, for that matter) are actually on the other side of the political divide!

"Why should we use our dues to make over half the country our enemies, right off the bat?" he asked.

Another good question. And another one worth pondering as you're enjoying your Labor Day.

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Article Tags: entrepreneurship, health wealth and happiness, inspirational leadership, personal responsibility



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