In Labor

So what’s all this Labor Day stuff about anyway?

How are we supposed to celebrate being workers in America when we’re all taking the day off?

I don’t think women would consider Labor Day a time to recognize the grandeur of contractions. No, it has to be a day to honor the work force.

Of course, it began as an effort to honor only some of the work force — union members. You see, it was founded in 1894, either by an executive of the Air Force or a high-ranking administrator of the International Brotherhood of Machinists in Paterson, New Jersey. Doesn’t sound like the kind of holiday we’d be invited to in our right-to-work state does it?

But even as the immense power of labor unions diminishes in this country, one has to look at the origins of that power.

Unions were created to counter the unfair treatment of employees by management. The puzzle to me has always been whether labor unions would ever have come into existence if the big bosses in the front office would have offered a sense of pride and owership to their employees.

Today, that’s what some of our most successful companies have done…without unions.

I’m Pat McMahon.

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