Monday will be a nice day off. The kids will enjoy it and we can have some family time. Whether I work or don't work, however, the day is not for me. It is not for most of us. It is a holiday to celebrate unions.
For me I guess it will be like it is for an atheist on Christmas Day.
For most Americans it is just a day off. Union membership in the private sector is so low that we are unlikely to even think about it. (Again, it is like Christmas - a lot of people celebrate, but they don't know why.) 
Chicago played a major part in the creation of Labor Day. On May 4th, 1886, eight police officers and an unknown number of civilians were killed in a labor riot known as the Haymarket Affair. While that horrible day played a part in May Day celebrations thereafter, it also influenced President Grover Cleveland to bypass May as a date for Labor Day to avoid stirring up negative emotions.
Union membership has grown a bit lately but primarily due to the growth of government. Less than 8 percent of private sector workers are unionized, compared to nearly 37 percent of government workers, according the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Private sector workers can, in the American tradition, fend for themselves. Government meanwhile, in cooperation with unions, does nothing more that unreasonably drive up costs. I pointed this out recently in my report on the Prevailing Wage Act.
When a legislature enacts something like the Prevailing Wages Act, they require that a laborer be paid a base rate well north of $100,000 a year. Are there people who would do labor on a construction site or a road project for less? Is the legislature negotiating rates on behalf of its employer (the people) or doing the bidding of the vendor? Do politicians put unions before people?
Continued... |