Labour Day
It's Labour Day here in Canada and in most of the rest of the world.
Today we celebrate the eight hour work day. Oh wait, not many people actually get an eight hour work day anymore.
We also celebrate getting decent wages for all. Whoops, there are millions of people with full-time jobs living well under the poverty line.
We are very happy that all workers are covered by health insurance so that they can be healthy enough to work. Nope, millions of workers are uninsured and if anything happens to them on the job, they're screwed.
We are also celebrating that fact that many anti-union laws were repealed after the first organized marches on Parliment successfully made changes for the better for the people in the workforce. Hmmm. Many of those old anti-union laws have begun to reemerge in different words.
It seems that we need to begin to do many of those original marches again. Pretty soon businesses are going to think that they own their workers just because they pay us for doing work and earning money for them. Oh, you get phone calls after working hours and your boss thinks she/he has the right to demand that you stay late and come in early without getting overtime or even take work home with you?
Well, Happy Labour Day anyway. Hope it's a good one.
Today we celebrate the eight hour work day. Oh wait, not many people actually get an eight hour work day anymore.
We also celebrate getting decent wages for all. Whoops, there are millions of people with full-time jobs living well under the poverty line.
We are very happy that all workers are covered by health insurance so that they can be healthy enough to work. Nope, millions of workers are uninsured and if anything happens to them on the job, they're screwed.
We are also celebrating that fact that many anti-union laws were repealed after the first organized marches on Parliment successfully made changes for the better for the people in the workforce. Hmmm. Many of those old anti-union laws have begun to reemerge in different words.
It seems that we need to begin to do many of those original marches again. Pretty soon businesses are going to think that they own their workers just because they pay us for doing work and earning money for them. Oh, you get phone calls after working hours and your boss thinks she/he has the right to demand that you stay late and come in early without getting overtime or even take work home with you?
Well, Happy Labour Day anyway. Hope it's a good one.
posted by Dorothy at
6:57 AM
3 Comments:
oh, good commentary! In the US only 1 in 10 people belong to a union any more - globalization, or more pointedly the threat of having your work to elsewhere to places without unions, is in part to blame for the fact that workers no longer have as big a say in their industries & working life.
So, I wonder when the factory-store system will return...oh, wait that is credit cards... ;-)
Happy Labour Day!
By
Anonymous, at 8:32 AM, September 03, 2007
Good Points!
By
Martina, at 9:53 AM, September 04, 2007
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts - these are some very good points indeed!
By
Anonymous, at 12:33 AM, September 05, 2007
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