Union Perspectives

What happened to our celebration of May Day? The celebration of workers’ pride. I know when I worked, we all wore our hard hats with union stickers indicating our locals. We never took them off when we went to get a drink or take a break or had lunch. It was a symbol of pride. I remember in school during the 1950s, we celebrated May Day, but from I’ve seen, it’s not celebrated or explained in school. Some teachers might have the young students make spring hats, but that has nothing to do with why May Day was established. May Day or Workers’ Day or International Workers’ Day is a celebration of the historic struggles gains made by workers. In the U.S., May Day became a day to celebrate workers/laborers in 1889 to commemorate the Chicago Haymarket Riot of 1886. Today, celebrating May Day is done all over the world except, apparently, here in the U.S. If seems as if workers are looked down upon with disdain, like losers for not working harder to become rich like others have achieved. ...

The power of the people and the common since of some of the money people have finally came together on the positive effect of a minimum wage hike to lessen wage inequality, and the positive effective of pumping cash into the economy from the spenders. Fifteen dollars an hour is the goal at this time, and Los Angeles is set to become the largest city in America to adopt the new minimum wage following the lead of Seattle, San Francisco, Oakland, and there is a movement in New York City. Some states have set new minimum wages, such as Kentucky, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia, and California. The governors of these states appear to understand that slave wages hurt their economies, nine are Democrats, one is an Independent (former Republican) and six are Republican. The minimum wage is lower than the $15 an hour, but at least it is a start. The wage slaves just need ...