Feel free to read my (what is turning out to be an annual Labor Day) editorial in the Oregonian that was published today.
What Labor has Become
On Monday, Sept. 5, 1882, some 10,000 people played hooky from their jobs and descended on New York City in a display of solidarity for the American worker. Organizers declared it “Labor Day.”
These days, Labor Day means something else entirely. But what exactly it has evolved into depends on who you ask. Ask my wife, and she will tell you this is the first Labor Day in 20 years that I have not worked. Ask a co-worker and you might find the reason to work is based on an employer’s schedule and the need of the business to stay open. Ask your neighbor what it means and you might find a distaste for the celebration, whether it reminds them of the last day of summer or perhaps the state of their own jobs.
Unions were born from Labor Day. And it is on this day, we are reminded instead of barbecues, traffic and travelling, the state of the economy and infrequently, the folks who are working today. Robert Reich, former Labor Secretary suggested in a recent column that those who are in unions can at least celebrate the work they still have (rather than celebrating a day-off from the work that they have) while the rest of the labor force not represented by unions, struggle “members of non-organized labor — most of the rest of us — are unemployed, underemployed, or underwater”.
We offer sweat equity and on a regular basis, we are told that this equity is easily replaced. We are told that the inequality in the economy is due to our inability to surrender to the reality of the situation. Unions all face the same issues at the bargaining table. You sit not with employers so much as the shareholders they represent. These shareholders are focused on growth, not only in their interests in the business (the stock) but the future potential of that interest rising unabated. To do that, businesses have adopted numerous methods to ensure their shareholders remain happy.
But to what ends? Companies have tapped every possible source of income and growth available to them. They have refinanced their debt using historically low interest rates. They have bought their own stock (a method that uses fewer shares available to boost the price of the remaining shares) and offered dividends (a portion of the cash reserves that are paid to shareholders for their loyalty). And when the profit & loss statements are issued, these shareholders look at these falsehoods as truths that companies are doing what they can to remain viable.
The trouble with viable is that it replaces sweat equity, the generation of new business with increased productivity with cash reserves. And they are rewarded for it. Granted, these businesses spend billions each year through lobbying effort s to keep this cycle of profits on a roll. They legislate for the idea that if there were no companies making money, there would be even fewer workers.
But who are their customers? You and I. And what do they do to this customer base as a result of this one sided attempt at economic recovery? They cut labor to increase productivity. The chart below illustrates what everyone of you probably already know. We make less, sweat more and the bottom line looks robust.
We have seen technology add the biggest boost to the businesses bottom lines. In the grocery store, one or two checkers might be assigned to a bank of checkstands that allow you to become your own employee. You don’t get any specific discount for this work, scanning and bagging your own groceries does not present any sort of dollar or percentage discount to the process. Yet people do it.
You don’t get out of the store faster (self checkout is often slowed by the customer who pays in loose change, seems unable to find the item in the look-up feature, finds the process halted by the need to show identification to the self-scan operator to prove they are old enough for the purchase of alcohol or tabacco or simply squints at the numbers written on their produce that are normally part of the old-school checkers memory.
This is but one of the technological innovations that have reduced the amount of sweat equity that the employer has to pay. Robert Scarry, former director of New Jersey’s Department of Commerce writes: “While we still celebrate Labor Day, it is devoid of its early meaning, bluster, brashness and assertiveness. This is a shame, especially for the young, who tend to take things like worker safety, information on chemicals in the workplace and job security for granted. The blood and treasure spent by generations of early union members has been lost, not because the labor movement failed but because it was an overwhelming success in reshaping the American scene.”
Instead, it has become the “Not Enough Labor Day”. One comedian described as a time when we celebrate labor by purchasing items made in China (plastics and coolers for instance) as the news organizations around the country bend to the whims of their editors (and what sells) and promote less pay for more work. These same editors employ union cameras while trashing the unions, union printers, while splaying the organized workforce and suggest that saving the middle class is not the answer to get the economy moving again, it is business. As Eve Tahmincioglu writes: “Roll over” should not be the acceptable state of affairs. But it is.
In this upcoming election cycle, you have a choice in the matter like never before. There is a huge amount of disgust for what is happening in Washington even if the recession was caused years before the current group took control. And that old group seems poised to step in a do for business what didn’t work the first time around.
If unions are going to survive, the word solidarity needs to become a political force for change. While only 7% of the private workforce is governed by collective bargaining agreements, talk of eliminating the need for unions should be the only thing we care about. This is asking a lot. Many people vote with an eye on what matters to them. They focus on values and vote with their wallets. They look at taxes and listen intently on how to a politician will seek to lower theirs.
On this Labor Day, we need to look at the unions as they only thing that could save this economy. Had more people belonged at the beginning of this recession, the unemployment rate would have been significantly lower. On this Labor Day, we need to readjust our rose colored glasses and think big, really big. We need to think beyond what we want and instead focus on what is needed.
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On this Labor Day
Feel free to read my (what is turning out to be an annual Labor Day) editorial in the Oregonian that was published today.
What Labor has Become
On Monday, Sept. 5, 1882, some 10,000 people played hooky from their jobs and descended on New York City in a display of solidarity for the American worker. Organizers declared it “Labor Day.”
These days, Labor Day means something else entirely. But what exactly it has evolved into depends on who you ask. Ask my wife, and she will tell you this is the first Labor Day in 20 years that I have not worked. Ask a co-worker and you might find the reason to work is based on an employer’s schedule and the need of the business to stay open. Ask your neighbor what it means and you might find a distaste for the celebration, whether it reminds them of the last day of summer or perhaps the state of their own jobs.
Unions were born from Labor Day. And it is on this day, we are reminded instead of barbecues, traffic and travelling, the state of the economy and infrequently, the folks who are working today. Robert Reich, former Labor Secretary suggested in a recent column that those who are in unions can at least celebrate the work they still have (rather than celebrating a day-off from the work that they have) while the rest of the labor force not represented by unions, struggle “members of non-organized labor — most of the rest of us — are unemployed, underemployed, or underwater”.
We offer sweat equity and on a regular basis, we are told that this equity is easily replaced. We are told that the inequality in the economy is due to our inability to surrender to the reality of the situation. Unions all face the same issues at the bargaining table. You sit not with employers so much as the shareholders they represent. These shareholders are focused on growth, not only in their interests in the business (the stock) but the future potential of that interest rising unabated. To do that, businesses have adopted numerous methods to ensure their shareholders remain happy.
But to what ends? Companies have tapped every possible source of income and growth available to them. They have refinanced their debt using historically low interest rates. They have bought their own stock (a method that uses fewer shares available to boost the price of the remaining shares) and offered dividends (a portion of the cash reserves that are paid to shareholders for their loyalty). And when the profit & loss statements are issued, these shareholders look at these falsehoods as truths that companies are doing what they can to remain viable.
The trouble with viable is that it replaces sweat equity, the generation of new business with increased productivity with cash reserves. And they are rewarded for it. Granted, these businesses spend billions each year through lobbying effort s to keep this cycle of profits on a roll. They legislate for the idea that if there were no companies making money, there would be even fewer workers.
But who are their customers? You and I. And what do they do to this customer base as a result of this one sided attempt at economic recovery? They cut labor to increase productivity. The chart below illustrates what everyone of you probably already know. We make less, sweat more and the bottom line looks robust.
We have seen technology add the biggest boost to the businesses bottom lines. In the grocery store, one or two checkers might be assigned to a bank of checkstands that allow you to become your own employee. You don’t get any specific discount for this work, scanning and bagging your own groceries does not present any sort of dollar or percentage discount to the process. Yet people do it.
You don’t get out of the store faster (self checkout is often slowed by the customer who pays in loose change, seems unable to find the item in the look-up feature, finds the process halted by the need to show identification to the self-scan operator to prove they are old enough for the purchase of alcohol or tabacco or simply squints at the numbers written on their produce that are normally part of the old-school checkers memory.
This is but one of the technological innovations that have reduced the amount of sweat equity that the employer has to pay. Robert Scarry, former director of New Jersey’s Department of Commerce writes: “While we still celebrate Labor Day, it is devoid of its early meaning, bluster, brashness and assertiveness. This is a shame, especially for the young, who tend to take things like worker safety, information on chemicals in the workplace and job security for granted. The blood and treasure spent by generations of early union members has been lost, not because the labor movement failed but because it was an overwhelming success in reshaping the American scene.”
Instead, it has become the “Not Enough Labor Day”. One comedian described as a time when we celebrate labor by purchasing items made in China (plastics and coolers for instance) as the news organizations around the country bend to the whims of their editors (and what sells) and promote less pay for more work. These same editors employ union cameras while trashing the unions, union printers, while splaying the organized workforce and suggest that saving the middle class is not the answer to get the economy moving again, it is business. As Eve Tahmincioglu writes: “Roll over” should not be the acceptable state of affairs. But it is.
In this upcoming election cycle, you have a choice in the matter like never before. There is a huge amount of disgust for what is happening in Washington even if the recession was caused years before the current group took control. And that old group seems poised to step in a do for business what didn’t work the first time around.
If unions are going to survive, the word solidarity needs to become a political force for change. While only 7% of the private workforce is governed by collective bargaining agreements, talk of eliminating the need for unions should be the only thing we care about. This is asking a lot. Many people vote with an eye on what matters to them. They focus on values and vote with their wallets. They look at taxes and listen intently on how to a politician will seek to lower theirs.
On this Labor Day, we need to look at the unions as they only thing that could save this economy. Had more people belonged at the beginning of this recession, the unemployment rate would have been significantly lower. On this Labor Day, we need to readjust our rose colored glasses and think big, really big. We need to think beyond what we want and instead focus on what is needed.
Related posts:
Posted in commentary, economics, Repercussions: A Retirement Review