Go ahead, make my..
Silvio Canto, Jr., has a short, sharp, pithy post over at American Thinker on the relevance of ‘Labor Day’, but before directing you over there, a little something from yours truly.
Way back when, in the hoary past of studenthood in one of the outposts of Greater Manchester, UK, known as the Leigh College of Engineering, yours truly had barely graduated and entered the thriving workforce of the (now defunct) Metal Box Company, than I was collared and captured in a very tight corner by two big guys from the Amalgamated Engineering Union (aka AEU).
The message was very plain and simple – ‘pay up or else’.
As a result, and until I fled the place for Toronto, Canada some six years later, I became nothing more nor less than a slave for the AEU, who basically ran the Metal Box Company above and beyond the upper echelon staff and directors.
Unions are like dinosaurs, a thing of the past.
Needless to say, I’ve never been a compliant union supporter – of any ilk. Just get on with your job and do your best.
Silvio Canto gets it! … ‘A Good Labor Day’…
Labor Day is for workers and there is a lot for them to celebrate this year. I’m old enough to remember 1979 and 1980, and it feels a lot better today than back then.
The U.S. economy is doing quite well on Labor Day 2019, as Sally Pipes reminded us: Consider that in 2018, corporate profits rose 7.8 percent, compared to 3.2 percent in 2017.
Last year, companies added about 200,000 jobs per month, up from 179,000 in 2017. This past April, average hourly earnings were 3.2 percent higher than the year before.
Unemployment hit a 50-year low the following month. It’s not perfect but it’s very good.
We face two big challenges on this Labor Day: First, let’s keep the U.S. economy growing — and I trust that we can do that — and, Second, let’s reevaluate what we are teaching our young people about capitalism and free markets.
The best way to keep our young people prosperous is to remind them that capitalism, not socialism, is the best route ahead.
Capitalism! Capitalism! Capitalism!
Somebody please tell those jokers parading around as DemoMarxist-wannabe-president(s) that based on what we’ve witnessed to date, neither one of ’em could pass muster directing people to their pews in a building of worship, never mind eyeing the probability of wrestling with the highest office on the planet.
Every time I think of Unions of any kind I get visions of Mafia and Jimmy Hoffa (who got ‘offed’ alright) and union donations to the DNC and big deep state government swamp-dwellers, the likes of those DemoMarxist-wannabe’s just mentioned.
And I shudder in revolt.
There’s another piece on Labor Day today, from Tyler O’Neil in today’s PJMedia which is a much more sobering take on the whole matter. Unfortunately, it’s a long read, but here’s the flavor: ‘This Labor Day Unions Are Gunning for Workers’ Free Speech Rights’…
Today, Americans enjoy a day off of work to celebrate Labor Day, a holiday commemorating the organized labor movement. Unions did indeed secure important rights for American workers, including the idea of a weekend including Saturday and Sunday. Yet organized labor is horrifically corrupt today. Workers who refuse to join a union because they disagree with the union’s political stance were forced to pay fees to the union, anyway — until the Supreme Court defended workers’ free speech last year. Now, unions and their political allies are fighting to prevent workers from leaving the unions and from opting out of paying fees.
A new report from the Commonwealth Foundation revealed that government unions and their political allies are pushing legislation across the country that cements unions’ power to compel workers to support their political agendas. Many workers have resorted to filing lawsuits in order to escape the unions’ grasp.
Read the full report to completion right here
