COMMENTARY: Unions fight for American workers

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.courierpostonline.com/story/opinion/columnists/2014/08/31/commentary-unions-fight-american-workers/14826065/

By Charles Wowkanech 12:13 a.m. EDT August 31, 2014



(Photo: JOHN ZIOMEK/Courier-Post file )

Labor Day is a time to celebrate work and the men and women who perform the labor. The holiday can also serve as a timely reminder of the many protections, gains and benefits for all workers that the labor movement has fought for and achieved.

The philosophy of labor unions has changed remarkably little since 1886 when Samuel Gompers, an English cigar maker, founded the American Federation of Labor, a coalition focused on securing basic economic improvements for workers: higher wages, shorter hours and safe working conditions.

“What does labor want?” Gompers asked rhetorically to explain the position advocated by his newly formed coalition. “We want more houses and less jails. More books and less guns. More learning and less vice. More leisure and less greed. More justice and less revenge. We want more ... opportunities to cultivate our better natures.”

As a 19th-century labor organizer, Gompers fought to see workers acquire stable housing, adequate food and clothing, and enough money to educate their children — the very same qualities today’s middle-class and working families are striving to attain or retain. Despite the many benefits unions have brought to the nation’s entire workforce, a strong anti-union tide threatens to undermine some of these hard-fought gains.

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