Unions remind about significance of Labor Day
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Labor Day weekend has come to signify several things since its inception in 1894. For many, it is a time for family. For others, it means cookouts with friends or travelling or just relaxing. It is the last hurrah of the summer as well.
But it is more than a holiday. That three-day weekend was earned by men and women in organized labor.
This past Labor Day weekend, several unions and labor organizations gathered on the grounds of United Auto Workers Local 685 to commemorate the struggles of the past and to strengthen the resolve of today’s unionists as labor continues to be targeted by big business and its political allies.
As a crowd of people milled about, visiting informational booths and enjoying a late summer lunch, several speakers took to a stage to celebrate what Labor Day actually means. William Guinan, vice president of UAW Local 685, recounted a bit of the history behind the holiday.
“They passed Labor Day as a federal holiday after the Pullman strike and boycott,” said Guinan. “Greed and prejudice was trying to take the fruits of labor away from people, trying to take their wages. The union of the railroad went on strike and lost but then put on the largest boycott ever at that point in time.”
The Pullman Strike involved 4,000 workers at the Pullman Palace Car Co. of Chicago. The company had cut wages by 25 percent while the cost of living remained unchanged. Facing severe economic hardship, the workers went on strike, and some were fired when they expressed discontent.
The American Railway Union stepped up an organized a nationwide boycott of all trains carrying Pullman cars. The strike had failed to move Pullman, but a boycott involving 250,000 rail workers effectively halted rail traffic in 27 states.
The U.S. government responded with violence, sending U.S. Marshals and the U.S. Army to try to force workers back to their jobs. Dozens died in the resulting conflict, and millions of dollars in property damage resulted.
The government eventually won, forcing an end to the strike with no penalty to the Pullman Co. Instead, the railway union’s president, Eugene V. Debs, was imprisoned for organizing the resistance. However, President Grover Cleveland, realizing the political fallout might threaten his party’s power, worked with Congress to establish Labor Day as a national holiday and a conciliatory gesture towards the working class.
Guinan expressed his belief that workers need to organize a similar protest effort today.
“It is something that needs to happen today against these corporations,” said Guinan. “That is what Labor Day is about. It’s about everybody. It’s about the nurses, the EMTs, the person handing you the Subway sandwich through the window, the person making the truck and the car, the person holding the flag when you drive down the road to make sure your roads are built safely.
“It’s for everybody. The doctors. It’s for the single mothers, the single fathers, the grandparents who work an extra hour or two to make sure their children have something that no one will give them. That is what Labor Day is about. It’s about you. It’s about us.”
Several political candidates were given time on stage to express their support for labor, including Stephanie Graf-Gilliland, Miami County Democratic Party Chair and disabled U.S. Army veteran, who is also running for clerk in her county.
“What profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?” asked Graf-Gillimand. “The question is just as powerful today as it was when it was first spoken. What does it a profit a company to report record earnings as its employees must work two jobs to feed their family? What does it gain a nation to call itself prosperous if working people cannot afford decent housing, quality healthcare, childcare, or secure retirement?
“When profit becomes more important than people, we are in danger of losing the soul of America. Unions remind this country that working people are not machines. We are mothers. We are fathers. We are caregivers and veterans, neighbors and community leaders. We are human beings worthy of integrity, safety, dignity, respect, and a share of the prosperity our labor creates.
“Labor rights are women’s rights. Women’s rights are civil rights, and civil rights are workers’ rights. So, on this Labor Day, let us recommit ourselves to protecting the right to organize, defend collective bargaining, demand equal pay, and elect leaders who will stand with working people, not just pose with us on Labor Day. Let us agree where we can. Let us fight where we must, but always in solidarity.”
The keynote speaker at the festive gathering was Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers and Kokomo native. He urged people to recognize what organized labor’s fight means for all workers.
“I know what the UAW has done for me and my family, and I know what organized labor can accomplish when working people stand together,” said Fain. “Let’s honor the generation that came before us, not by simply remembering what they built, but by having the courage to fight for what comes next.
“We have to build an economy where one job can support a family. We have to build communities where young people can stay and raise families and have a future. We have to protect the dignity of work and the knowledge that’s passed down from one generation of workers to the next.”