Hillsboro Tribune opinion: Thank a union worker

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.pamplinmedia.com/ht/118-hillsboro-tribune-opinion/231655-93138-thank-a-union-worker-

Created on Friday, 29 August 2014 01:00 | Written by Callie Vandewiele

It’s a familiar routine: Walking into work, stowing your coat near your desk or in the break room. Nabbing a cup of coffee and then wandering down the hall or across the floor.

You clock in, and start counting down. Two hours until your breather. Three hours, 59 minutes to lunch. Just under eight and a half hours until you are headed home — or into overtime.

Minimum wage or contracted double digits. It’s all the same, whether you work in a berry field, a high rise or a school. The American norm has become “working 9 to 5, five days a week.” Of course, not all our work schedules are so neat and tidy, but with Labor Day weekend coming up, it’s good to remember that American work weeks have not always had that standard.

At the height of the industrial revolution, entire families worked in factories. Men, women and their children were pulling 16-hour days six — and sometimes seven — days a week. Working conditions were brutal. Employees could be fired for getting sick or hurt. Wages were far below poverty level and families often went hungry, even with every member who could walk working.

FULL story at link.

[Karmadillo]

1. Thank you for posting this excellent reminder of what we tend to take for granted and

of the collective options that are still available to us if we'll just stop kneeling before the powers that be.

[senseandsensibility]

2. Great post, and Happy Labor Day, Steve!

[Rod Beauvex]

3. Amazing.

No comments in the article, for or against. Guess all the right-wing paid shills don't like reality.