|
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| [Links to Other Articles]
Labor Day, 2005: Taking Labor Day Seriously By Nancy R. Smith Labor Day is fun in the sun for the last summer weekend of 2005. Why do we need to have any serious thoughts? Consider this: JULY 2005 UNEMPLOYMENT DATA Hidden unemployment: 9.4 million Total: 16.9 million (10.9% of the labor force) (National Jobs for All Coalition) ....and this: For the unemployed and for those who work full time but earn too little to escape poverty, life is constant struggle. Our economy needsmore, not fewer, jobs, but military spending actually generates fewer jobs for the dollar than equivalent spending to meet human needs. A billion dollars spent on domestic programs like school lunches, health, child & elder care, urban transportation, environmental protection & restoration, education, or housing, generates more jobs than a billion dollars of military spending. - From The Permanent War Economy by Rev. Finley Schaef and Rev. Dr. Douglas Grote. Here are suggestions for reflecting on this Labor Day: 1. Get up-to-date on the recent labor union splits and the issues involved. Do your own web search, but you can start here: · UFCW MOVES FOR A REVITALIZED LABOR MOVEMENT, DISAFFILIATES FROM AFL-CIO · The Associated Press article of August 3, Beyond the Divide: Rift in labor unions may be bad news for employers because fight may intensify competition for workers 2. Get up-to-date on national and state labor statistics. See: · JobWatch, Tracking Jobs and Wages · U.S. Census Bureau’s Facts for Features 3. For a variety of Christian worship resources on the web, see: · United Church of Christ - http://www.ucc.org/justice/labor.htm · Lectionary - http://www.textweek.com/yeara/propera18.htm · Lectionary - http://www.textweek.com/yearc/properc18.htm · http://www.textweek.com/festivals/labor_day.htm · Interfaith Worker Justice - http://www.nicwj.org/outreach/labor_day.html and http://www.nicwj.org/outreach/labor_day.html#Resources 
Read an interview with Nancy on "Preparing for Labor Day" on the Rev. Dean Snyder's Untied Methodist blog! The History of Labor Day:Labor Day: How It Came About; What It Means U.S. Department of Labor. August 9, 2005 "Labor Day differs in every essential way from the other holidays of the year in any country," said Samuel Gompers, founder and longtime president of the American Federation of Labor. "All other holidays are in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles of man's prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another. Labor Day...is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation."Grateful for the Hands that Labor Commentary by Julie Polter. Sojourners. Sept-Oct, 1994This is the common dilemma of Labor Day. This day of rest, set aside to honor labor, is usually remembered more for the fun things you do on a day off than for the workers it honors....What do we know about the people who grow our food and ship it to us, who build our houses and cars and sew our shirts, who pick up our garbage and cleaned our college dormitory, and who may one day feed us and bathe us if we are hospitalized or in a nursing home? What do we know about how they are treated, the dangers they face in the course of their jobs, the wages they receive?Working families fighting for a voice@work By Timothy J. Leahy. 09-04-04Recent surveys suggest that 42 million workers throughout America would join a union tomorrow if they could. Why? Because they understand that union workers tend to earn 26 percent more than non-union workers and are more likely to receive health and pension benefits. They understand that unions fight every day for social justice, improved health and safety benefits, promote fair trade and negotiate contracts that lift the standards of all workers. Sadly, today, they will not get that chance. When workers choose to form a union, employers declare war. It’s a war of intimidation, humiliation and harassment in which over 10,000 workers each year are fired. It’s a war in which corporations have an overwhelming advantage. 09-03-04 Corporate Voices for Working Families today released key findings from qualitative and quantitative research on America's workers who make less than $11 per hour and have a family income of $40,000 or less.Liberation and Labor Day By James M. Lawson, Jr. 09-03-04We are a nation dependent on services provided by immigrants, women, and people of color. Yet their employers refuse to accord them the respect, the dignity and the reward they deserve....On this Labor Day 2004, hotel workers are rising up to renew our faith in the American dream, and to create new dreams for millions of others who labor without the benefit of a union, without medical insurance, pensions, respect and just reward Shine Faith’s Light on Work This Labor Day by David Wheeler 08-29-02Most of America's poor are not welfare recipients or "skid row" residents, but working people employed full-time. Much of our society's hardest and most useful work is economically invisible: housework, parenting and the volunteer work that maintains churches and other social institutions. Despite the importance of work, the theme is rarely addressed at church. Yet the Scriptures are full of references to work. Can you name some?Entitled neighbors: A biblical perspective on living wage by Walter BrueggemannThe central and defining narrative memory of biblical faith is the story of the Exodus. While popular religion is preoccupied with the great divide of water in the Exodus story, in fact this defining memory is not about water; it is about rescue from unbearable poverty and abuse in debt slavery.Labor Day 2004: Global Trade That Works For All by US Conference of Catholic Bishops Despite polarization of the debate over international trade, Labor Day is a good time to make sure the global economy works for all, according to the chairman of the bishops' domestic policy committee in his annual Labor Day statement.
|
| |||||||||||||||||||
| ||
 |
