It would seem strange to be writing about Labor Day after it happened. With everything closed where I live, all the Wifi hotspots were unavailable. One good thing about all that is it allowed me to think. General American history is glossed over in school. Not a testable requirement. Texas and California approved textbooks are the default national standard. California is broke. Leaving the most radical dysfunctional state to control the content. Being born and raised in that particular state, I had a bird’s eye view before the nation found out. A handful of politically appointed people work in obscurity shaping their version of everything. Who needs Jefferson or evolution. Why would the Miner’s struggle for better working conditions be talked about where union organizers have to register with the state? It would give workers ideas. Besides this way off duty sheriff deputies can be used to keep those landowners angry with the XL pipeline in line.

The conditions during the late 19th and early 20th century were ripe for the rise of unions. An age of movement from the farm to the cities in search of work. Application of the newest technology required more workers. The available of cheaper food fueled the Industrial revolution. The new Consumer economy. The vast waves of unskilled European immigrants found work in the factories. These immigrants had a background Americans had forgotten. A Village collective mindset. Geography reinforced it. Europe. A continent with a history of an elite class ruling all. Excess the rule instead of the exception. Power corrupts. Privilege by accident of birth. Everything the earliest American colonist rejected. The prospect of being killed by Indians was a step up.

These immigrants didn’t all stay in urban areas. Skills learned at home translated to their new home. MIners. Lumberjacks. Farmers. Virgin land. A collective voice was the first heard in the most dangerous occupation still, Mining. The labor movement was hidden away in the mountains. Among the poorest population. The United Mine Workers were born in conflict. Nurtured by the blood of men, women and children producing the one resource fueling the factories. Coal. Company Towns. Wages paid in script. Credit from the only store in town. Europe overlords American style. Just like today the general population only pay attention to what the media covers. Newspapers hated the union movement.

1894. The wildcat Pullman railroad strike. Reduced wages in a company town. This was national. A boycott of rail traffic that paralyzed the country. Championed by the more radical union. Opposed by two more conservative. The General Managers Association coordinated it all. Not all unions are created equal. Thirty people killed. 80 million in damages. Federal troops and US Marshals were instrumental in break the strike. Another president used his federal powers to break a strike affecting public transportation. Reagan and the Air traffic controllers. In between was one that refused in another strike involving a segment of transportation. I live up the road from the site of the Flint sit down strike of 1936. This is where the general idea of Unions spring from. Defined political by Nixon. Perfected by Reagan and his southern supporters.

Which brings me to now. Tipping points in new technology created the need for unions. The internet has smashed any drive of collective organization. We live in a worldwide economy. Supply chains are global. Railroads still haul more freight than any truck can. But no passengers. The freight between coastal port facilities. Carried by foreign flagged shipping. Foreign cars manufactured have plants in southern states. Forget pensions. Or working at one company till retirement. Modern medical discoveries have extended our lifespans. More years to work for shrinking wages at part time positions. One critical aspect of unions have yet to be addressed. The training of skilled workers. Community colleges are taking up the slack. Too many regard factory work by the images of the past. A skilled position with good pay and no real student debt.

Labor day. Memorial day. Christmas. All our national holidays have become just another day to make money by staying open. My question is, does it really matter if I write this the next day? Welcome to the world of the temp worker.