e changed in the last 129 years. Labor? Why we scorn labor today. The attitude today is that labor unions have destroyed this country, that they cause more harm than good, that they make American businesses unprofitable. But Americans have such short memories. They forget what it used to be like. I don't. I worked for a year in a "bull labor" factory. Never heard of that. Let me tell you about it. The company made prefabricated wood structures. The work consisted of marking, cutting and drilling holes in pressure treated 4x4 and 4x6 beams. Sound easy enough? Let me explain further. There were no - mark that, NO - labor saving devices in the factory. A forklift brought in a pallet of 24' long 4x4 or 4x6 beams and set it down behind me. I had to manhandle the beams off the pile and onto a roller tray. Then I measured and marked where all of the holes and cuts had to be made. Following that, I shoved the beam along, drilling the holes and cutting it to length. When I was finished, I lifted the beam off the roller tray and placed it on skids to form a new pallet. I did this for 9 hours a day for the princely sum of $5.00 an hour. In the summer, the shop was stiflingly hot, temperatures reaching 110ยบ inside the metal building. We were not allowed to leave the line to get drinks, nor were we allowed to have drinks on the line. I sweated buckets every day. In the winter, the only heat source was a single radiant heat tube that ran along the ceiling, 20 feet above our heads. The warmth never reached the floor. We stood on frozen concrete, bundled in coats, our fingers aching as we manhandled the frozen beams through the drills and saws. Those drills and saws were old, worn-out. They broke down, or just plain broke. Safety guards were broken or missing altogether. I sliced a finger nearly off when a large drill bit broke as I was installing it into a drill press. That is a bull labor factory. How could they get away with such abhorrent working conditions? Sound like some third-world sweat shop to you? I'm afraid not. It was right here in the good old USofA, in a "right to work" state. Should be called a "right to exploit workers state." That would be closer to the truth. And this is how working conditions were back in the bad old days. Worse in many cases. But as I say, people forget that. Do you have paid vacation? Sick time? A living wage? A forty-hour work week? Workplace safety features? Then you owe all of that to labor unions of the past. We need to remember the good things that the labor movement gave us, rather than focusing entirely on their negative aspects. Anyway, back to labor day. No more celebrations of workers now. No one played "Fanfare for the Common Man." Today, workers are told that they better just be glad they have a job. While that's probably true, it doesn't excuse employers' treatment of workers. They'll give us the day off. Most folks cook out or party at the lake - that sort of thing. I mowed the lawn. Went shopping with Michelle. Bar-be-cued. Got ready to come back to work. No celebrations of the worker anywhere in our area.
Tuesday, September 06, 2011
Workers of the World, Just Be Glad You Have a Job
They call it Labor Day. First celebrated in 1882, it became a federal holiday in 1894. It's supposed to be a day on which we celebrate the contributions of the workers of this country. They used to have parades, speeches by labor organizers, festivals for workers. Quite a grand celebration. Quite a grand notion. My, how things hav
e changed in the last 129 years. Labor? Why we scorn labor today. The attitude today is that labor unions have destroyed this country, that they cause more harm than good, that they make American businesses unprofitable. But Americans have such short memories. They forget what it used to be like. I don't. I worked for a year in a "bull labor" factory. Never heard of that. Let me tell you about it. The company made prefabricated wood structures. The work consisted of marking, cutting and drilling holes in pressure treated 4x4 and 4x6 beams. Sound easy enough? Let me explain further. There were no - mark that, NO - labor saving devices in the factory. A forklift brought in a pallet of 24' long 4x4 or 4x6 beams and set it down behind me. I had to manhandle the beams off the pile and onto a roller tray. Then I measured and marked where all of the holes and cuts had to be made. Following that, I shoved the beam along, drilling the holes and cutting it to length. When I was finished, I lifted the beam off the roller tray and placed it on skids to form a new pallet. I did this for 9 hours a day for the princely sum of $5.00 an hour. In the summer, the shop was stiflingly hot, temperatures reaching 110ยบ inside the metal building. We were not allowed to leave the line to get drinks, nor were we allowed to have drinks on the line. I sweated buckets every day. In the winter, the only heat source was a single radiant heat tube that ran along the ceiling, 20 feet above our heads. The warmth never reached the floor. We stood on frozen concrete, bundled in coats, our fingers aching as we manhandled the frozen beams through the drills and saws. Those drills and saws were old, worn-out. They broke down, or just plain broke. Safety guards were broken or missing altogether. I sliced a finger nearly off when a large drill bit broke as I was installing it into a drill press. That is a bull labor factory. How could they get away with such abhorrent working conditions? Sound like some third-world sweat shop to you? I'm afraid not. It was right here in the good old USofA, in a "right to work" state. Should be called a "right to exploit workers state." That would be closer to the truth. And this is how working conditions were back in the bad old days. Worse in many cases. But as I say, people forget that. Do you have paid vacation? Sick time? A living wage? A forty-hour work week? Workplace safety features? Then you owe all of that to labor unions of the past. We need to remember the good things that the labor movement gave us, rather than focusing entirely on their negative aspects. Anyway, back to labor day. No more celebrations of workers now. No one played "Fanfare for the Common Man." Today, workers are told that they better just be glad they have a job. While that's probably true, it doesn't excuse employers' treatment of workers. They'll give us the day off. Most folks cook out or party at the lake - that sort of thing. I mowed the lawn. Went shopping with Michelle. Bar-be-cued. Got ready to come back to work. No celebrations of the worker anywhere in our area.
e changed in the last 129 years. Labor? Why we scorn labor today. The attitude today is that labor unions have destroyed this country, that they cause more harm than good, that they make American businesses unprofitable. But Americans have such short memories. They forget what it used to be like. I don't. I worked for a year in a "bull labor" factory. Never heard of that. Let me tell you about it. The company made prefabricated wood structures. The work consisted of marking, cutting and drilling holes in pressure treated 4x4 and 4x6 beams. Sound easy enough? Let me explain further. There were no - mark that, NO - labor saving devices in the factory. A forklift brought in a pallet of 24' long 4x4 or 4x6 beams and set it down behind me. I had to manhandle the beams off the pile and onto a roller tray. Then I measured and marked where all of the holes and cuts had to be made. Following that, I shoved the beam along, drilling the holes and cutting it to length. When I was finished, I lifted the beam off the roller tray and placed it on skids to form a new pallet. I did this for 9 hours a day for the princely sum of $5.00 an hour. In the summer, the shop was stiflingly hot, temperatures reaching 110ยบ inside the metal building. We were not allowed to leave the line to get drinks, nor were we allowed to have drinks on the line. I sweated buckets every day. In the winter, the only heat source was a single radiant heat tube that ran along the ceiling, 20 feet above our heads. The warmth never reached the floor. We stood on frozen concrete, bundled in coats, our fingers aching as we manhandled the frozen beams through the drills and saws. Those drills and saws were old, worn-out. They broke down, or just plain broke. Safety guards were broken or missing altogether. I sliced a finger nearly off when a large drill bit broke as I was installing it into a drill press. That is a bull labor factory. How could they get away with such abhorrent working conditions? Sound like some third-world sweat shop to you? I'm afraid not. It was right here in the good old USofA, in a "right to work" state. Should be called a "right to exploit workers state." That would be closer to the truth. And this is how working conditions were back in the bad old days. Worse in many cases. But as I say, people forget that. Do you have paid vacation? Sick time? A living wage? A forty-hour work week? Workplace safety features? Then you owe all of that to labor unions of the past. We need to remember the good things that the labor movement gave us, rather than focusing entirely on their negative aspects. Anyway, back to labor day. No more celebrations of workers now. No one played "Fanfare for the Common Man." Today, workers are told that they better just be glad they have a job. While that's probably true, it doesn't excuse employers' treatment of workers. They'll give us the day off. Most folks cook out or party at the lake - that sort of thing. I mowed the lawn. Went shopping with Michelle. Bar-be-cued. Got ready to come back to work. No celebrations of the worker anywhere in our area.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment