Thoughts on Labor Day

[ksherrihalo]

Wow it`s 2010, none of of this exist anymore, good bye good old days!

[TagGeorge]

The sheeple here in the part of IL I live in dont seem to know that they are better off with unions. It seems most of the jobs around here give you the same antiunion speech each time you start working for them.

[pulppeeler]

wow, same in northern wisconsin, we must have the same water supply

[boaterhabib]

"Living Wage" that's a farce!

[rubenjo1]

thanks for the video we all need the think about it

[ultradio]

You could've just spoken the text in a quarter of the time without distracting the listener with music he or she may find annoying. This way your listener would not be "robbed" of their precious time and still gotten the message and maybe some work done. Rated: poor.

[JohnnyOhio]

Thanks...good work...peace.

[ElunedLOTR]

My grandmother was a young girl when the Riot Act was read out to the striking miners in South Wales. She said the feral roar of hate that went up terrified her, some-one threw her into a womans arms in a house, before the miners were run down by mounted police. Every-one, in every country should remember the origins of the trade unions, and the hellish conditions people like my great grandfather and many others endured back then. not the US, I know, but it reminded me.

[politichick]

How terrified your grandmother must have been! Thanks for sharing her story with us. I did some research on US labor history for this vid, but I'll have to read up on the history in other parts of the world.

[FreeWingz]

I was away on Labor Day weekend and the week after so I didn't get to see this video until today. This was very educational and helped my awareness of this American holiday. Isn't it cool that videos can do this even weeks after the event?  Thanks:)

~FWz~

[dadhiltonmps]

This takes me back, Politichick. I wondered whether you would include the attack in 1937 on the workers with guns and batons. These are events in the rather immediate past that should never be forgotten. I'm looking to the day when members of unions actually help to run the corporations that they're a part of. Thanks for sharing this & reminding those of us who don't remember.

"cat"

[soupie2100]

THANKS!!! until now, i always wondered what the point of this holiday was. now i know and so shall i remember.

[phaedress]

Thank-you for this. It's good to remember that "laisez-faire capitalism" has to be moderated by humanity and fair play. In my opinion, there's still some way to go.

[politichick]

Amen, sister!

[xxSniperK2xx]

Great video with a strong message...welldone.

[marjorieanndrake]

From Air America Radio:"..President Bush announced that he plans to appoint Paul De Camp, an anti-union corporate lawyer who has represented Wal-Mart to head the Labor Department's Wage & Hour Division." Great, bend over America.Fawker.

[politichick]

Well, I wouldn't expect anything else from Bush.

Throughout his presidency he has consistently made those types of appointments (attorneys who have argued against civil rights in charge of the civil rights division of the justice dept, folks from heavily polluting industries appointed to head up the EPA, etc.)

And a compliant Congress has confirmed these kinds of appointments. Hey US voters! - we can change this in November!

[sainter1]

EXACTLY the same in Australia. People here just think of it as a long weekend! :)

[politichick]

It's sad to hear that. Have you seen seanbedlam's vid about Wonthaggi in Victoria? It was fascinating - check it out. The title is "People Power and Stuff"

[sherryhumikowski]

It's nice to see someone reflecting on the true meaning of Labor Day!!

[politichick]

Thanks, Sherry! Labor is stronger in our neck of the woods than it is in a lot of places, but it needs to be strong nationwide.

[robertmor1954]

it seems the same in the uk, thay have forgot what was done to get where thay are today.good vid.

[snuffydoug]

In Japan, Unions are not powerful at all yet the quality of life there is superb. In fact, the Life expectancy is higher there. By the way, Unions are costing GM millions. As a result of this cost, they are having trouble. When unions artificially raise wages, the employer has to turn down more employes to cover the cost. These turned down employes will then seek lower paying jobs.

[politichick]

Hi snuffydoug! Hmm - I'm not sure I get your logic re: Japan. "Correlation does not imply causality." It's like saying ice cream causes murder because both murder and ice cream sales go up in the summer. Other factors might be at work.

[snuffydoug]

Hi Politichick, Actually your right. My logic was rather flawed with my Japanese Unions theories. However, I have studied the issue a bit, and am aware that unions have theirs flaws along with their benifits. Saying that, I personally beleive that the government should not interfere with our economy, or our persoal lives.