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Old 09-02-2019, 08:07 AM
 
Location: Proxima Centauri
5,768 posts, read 3,197,171 times
Reputation: 6094

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Back in the late eighteen hundreds a growing labor movement convinced politicians to commemorate the collective actions of workers in the United States. The original meaning of Labor day has been lost to big sales and the media's message that the Summer is over now get back to work.

I would like to remember those who have died in the effort to make overall working conditions better for those workers who followed. I honor Sid Hatfield who defended the towns people of Matewan West Virginia from anti-labor thugs and all of those who have died when corrupted politicians ordered the various state militias to open fire on strikers.

We are now in a period of declining pensions and benefits as globalization robs us of those gains and the best standard of living in the world.

Here is a time line in the labor movement: https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/...labor-movement
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Old 09-02-2019, 08:23 AM
 
4,850 posts, read 2,633,218 times
Reputation: 6913
Yes, declining pensions and benefits nowadays. Seems crazy that they were even allowed in the first place, despite strong union activism. People should just be paid for their work, and everything else is a grubby entitlement anyway. Right? Employers are not responsible for hand holding their employees or providing any living wage rubbish anyway. They've got businesses to run. No free lunches here and no one is indispensable and can be replaced easily. Right?

The frenetic actions to save like crazy on labor costs continues in the form of the gig economy and other "improvements". The race to the bottom continues...
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Old 09-02-2019, 08:45 AM
 
7,929 posts, read 4,908,938 times
Reputation: 15863
With the continuous vitriol for employees pensions (Which hardly exist today) , death of unions, benefits, a livable wage etc and the continuous outsourcing, insourcing , Im surprised "Labor Day" still exists for Americans
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Old 09-02-2019, 09:18 AM
 
Location: Swiftwater, PA
18,755 posts, read 17,989,563 times
Reputation: 14731
Quote:
Originally Posted by DorianRo View Post
With the continuous vitriol for employees pensions (Which hardly exist today) , death of unions, benefits, a livable wage etc and the continuous outsourcing, insourcing , Im surprised "Labor Day" still exists for Americans
AI and robotics will celebrate; once we teach them how!
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Old 09-02-2019, 09:29 AM
 
Location: North Carolina
6,081 posts, read 4,559,187 times
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Thank you for posting this thread, as media outlets (at least around here) seem to have forgotten the purpose and think it just means the unofficial end to summer.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/curre...ing-labor.html
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Old 09-02-2019, 09:31 AM
 
Location: Proxima Centauri
5,768 posts, read 3,197,171 times
Reputation: 6094
Quote:
Originally Posted by BusinessManIT View Post
Yes, declining pensions and benefits nowadays. Seems crazy that they were even allowed in the first place, despite strong union activism. People should just be paid for their work, and everything else is a grubby entitlement anyway. Right? Employers are not responsible for hand holding their employees or providing any living wage rubbish anyway. They've got businesses to run. No free lunches here and no one is indispensable and can be replaced easily. Right?

The frenetic actions to save like crazy on labor costs continues in the form of the gig economy and other "improvements". The race to the bottom continues...
Quote:
Originally Posted by DorianRo View Post
With the continuous vitriol for employees pensions (Which hardly exist today) , death of unions, benefits, a livable wage etc and the continuous outsourcing, insourcing , Im surprised "Labor Day" still exists for Americans

Thank you both for replying to my thread. I've read both of your posts over the years and I'm thankful that those of us who have been around the block, see things for what they really are.
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Old 09-02-2019, 11:42 AM
 
5,985 posts, read 2,894,561 times
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In the 1800s average hours/week were over 70. Today, thanks to the labor movement it's under 40. We have better working conditions today than ever before in history.

Today is a great day to not only remember the past and how we got here, but look to the future on how workers now have the ability to make their own way, and be thankful that we have the rights and freedoms to make successful careers on our own rights. We can now move forward as workers in a way not possible 100 years ago.
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Old 09-02-2019, 03:46 PM
 
Location: Proxima Centauri
5,768 posts, read 3,197,171 times
Reputation: 6094
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lekrii View Post
In the 1800s average hours/week were over 70. Today, thanks to the labor movement it's under 40. We have better working conditions today than ever before in history.

Today is a great day to not only remember the past and how we got here, but look to the future on how workers now have the ability to make their own way, and be thankful that we have the rights and freedoms to make successful careers on our own rights. We can now move forward as workers in a way not possible 100 years ago.

You remind me of Kevin Bacon in Animal House. Toward the end of the film he was standing in the chaotic pandemonium of a riot saying all is well.

It may be your own experience that you work under 40 hours a week but that's not true for many. More often than not management is seeking to maximize productivity by working each employee to the breaking point. People are losing health insurance and companies are substituting 401K for the comfort of a pension.

If I was you I would start to retrain. David Koch is dead and the other relevant Koch brother Charles is in his eighties.
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Old 09-02-2019, 05:06 PM
 
5,985 posts, read 2,894,561 times
Reputation: 9025
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tonyafd View Post
You remind me of Kevin Bacon in Animal House. Toward the end of the film he was standing in the chaotic pandemonium of a riot saying all is well.

It may be your own experience that you work under 40 hours a week but that's not true for many. More often than not management is seeking to maximize productivity by working each employee to the breaking point. People are losing health insurance and companies are substituting 401K for the comfort of a pension.

If I was you I would start to retrain. David Koch is dead and the other relevant Koch brother Charles is in his eighties.
Quantifiably average hours worked are at a historic low in the US, and thanks in part to the labor movement. Average hours for full time employed persons are a hair under 40 hours/week. And yes, thankfully people now have control of their own retirement with 401ks.

That said, this thread is about labor day and showing it the respect it deserves. It is inappropriate to debate in this thread. PM me if you're confused over the statistics of hours worked and I'll respond in private.

Last edited by Lekrii; 09-02-2019 at 05:46 PM..
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Old 09-02-2019, 07:03 PM
 
6,503 posts, read 3,391,597 times
Reputation: 7903
Quote:
Originally Posted by BusinessManIT View Post
Yes, declining pensions and benefits nowadays. Seems crazy that they were even allowed in the first place, despite strong union activism. People should just be paid for their work, and everything else is a grubby entitlement anyway. Right? Employers are not responsible for hand holding their employees or providing any living wage rubbish anyway. They've got businesses to run. No free lunches here and no one is indispensable and can be replaced easily. Right?

The frenetic actions to save like crazy on labor costs continues in the form of the gig economy and other "improvements". The race to the bottom continues...
Sounds like some line the millennials will regurgitate after hearing their old man coming home from work, parroting what his boss said - because the mindset was instilled that everyone should "think like managers" if the company is to be successful. Little do they know that if managers have no one to manage...

We're all going to be sitting at home like people in Wall-E, everyone is a business owner that owns robots that do our bidding. There's no reason the leave the house. Universal income. The robots are just to transact on our behalf, moving money around to make it look like we have an economy.

No W2 employee outside the C-suite has any business supporting globalization.
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