ThinkWing Radio with Mike Honig

"An educated electorate is a prerequisite for a democracy."

Main menu

Skip to primary content
Skip to secondary content
  • Home
  • BLOG
  • ARCHIVES: ThinkWing Radio Shows
  • EDITING & TUTORING SERVICES
  • ABOUT
  • SPONSORS
  • ARTICLES: News, History & More
    • ARTS: Movies, Artists, Concepts, Etc. [“Air Swimmers VIDEO, now works]
    • HISTORY (Modern, Ancient, Archaeological, Paleontological)
    • HISTORY (ON or ABOUT: FILM or PHOTOS)
    • POLITICS & OPINION (DOMESTIC)
    • POLITICS & OPINION (INTERNATIONAL)
    • SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
    • SOCIETY (Modern, Domestic & International)
  • QUOTATIONS (Main)
    • EDUCATION QUOTES
    • FDR – Franklin Delano Roosevelt
    • HUMOR: SOCIAL, POLITICAL, PHILOSOPHICAL
    • JUSTICE QUOTES
    • PHILOSOPHICAL QUOTES
    • POLITICAL QUOTES
    • Quotes from me: Mike Honig
  • HUMOR
    • CELEBRITY LOOK-ALIKES
    • Humor Articles
    • HUMOR: POLITICAL
    • HUMOR: Religion (No disrespect intended)
    • Humor: Videos, Cartoons & Photos (Age 13+)
    • Amusing Tweets & Comments
  • VOTER & Political Info And Resources
    • General Poll/Voter Education Resources
    • POLITICAL PARTY HQs in/for HARRIS COUNTY, TX
    • TEXAS, STATE OF
    • HARRIS COUNTY
    • FORT BEND COUNTY
    • MONTGOMERY COUNTY
    • BRAZORIA COUNTY
    • CHAMBERS COUNTY
    • GALVESTON COUNTY
    • LIBERTY COUNTY
    • WALLER COUNTY
  • UNIONIZING For Dummies (TM)
    • Audio Programming
    • FAQ

Tag Archives: labor day

#Thinkwing Radio: Mon, 9-2-2019, 9PM @KPFTHouston FM 90.1. TOPIC(s): Why Do We Celebrate Labor Day ? What is the future of organized labor? and more. GUEST: Callers [AUDIO]

Posted on September 2, 2019 by Thinkwing Radio
Reply

SHOW AUDIO Link is usually posted within about 72 hours of show broadcast. We take callers during this show at 713-526-5738.

Part of today’s show is prerecorded. We are otherwise live.

SHOW AUDIO:   

https://thinkwingradio.files.wordpress.com/2019/09/kpft_2019-09-02_1500-labor-day-show.mp3

Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig (@ThinkwingRadio), a listener call-in show  airing live every Monday night from 3-4 PM (CT) on KPFT-FM 90.1 (Houston). My engineer is Leti. Today’s show is a fundraising show, so, with apologies, we can’t take on-air phone calls, Listen live on the radio, or on the internet from anywhere in the world! When the show is live, we take calls at 713-526-5738. (Long distance charges may apply.)

Please take a moment to visit Pledge.KPFT.org and choose THINKWING RADIO from the drop-down list when you donate.

For the purposes of this show, I operate on two mottoes:

  • You’re entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts;
  • An educated electorate is a prerequisite for a democracy.

POSSIBLE TOPICS: Unions and Labor Day, and the future of the labor movement in America

  • “Without the labor advances won by #Unions, #Capitalism itself might not exist today.” ~ Me
    • Let’s talk first about Labor Day. How was it created, and why is it in September instead of May Day, like the rest of the world’s equivalent labor celebrations?
  • The Labor Union movement was strong after WW2. What happened to weaken it?
    • Conservatives have succeeded in villainizing unions in the minds of many workers. How have they accomplished that?
    • How can it be reversed?
  • “We continually try to read Conservatives through Liberal-colored glasses. When we try to see things as Conservatives see them through their own eyes, understanding can arise. From that understanding can come effective Progressive responses.” ~ Michael R. Honig, 4/28/2015 (inspired by Jackson Galaxy)
    • Is that a trick that progressives and labor groups need to try to learn, and can they?
  • Is the political labor pendulum beginning to swing the other way now?
  • Judging from the current political and legal climate, it almost seems like labor organizing needs to start over again.
    • What will labor organizing look like as the 21st century progresses?
    • Is Unionization Important to Closing Racial Wage Gap?         Study Says, SEPT. 4, 2015
    • The NY Times had an interesting article on workers’ committees (Workers Organize, but Don’t Unionize, to Get Protection Under Labor Law).
      • I loved this quote: “We feel that the group’s tactics are over the top,” said Carol Wight, chief executive of the New Mexico Restaurant Association. “I think there are nicer, more effective ways of getting what you want — achieving justice for workers.”
      • The article makes 2 important points:
        1. Unions, at least in New Mexico, have not shown much interest in organizing low-wage workers;
        2. “Workers Committees” are easier to organize than unions.
      • What does this development mean for workers in the future?
      • What does it mean for unions going forward?
    • Unions need money to do their work, whether it’s paying full-time officials, forming strike funds or funding political action.
      • Can unions survive in their current form, and if so, how?
      • If unions have to change, what might those changes look like?
    • Specifically, does the AFL-CIO and it’s brother and sister unions have new strategies going forward that we can discuss here tonight?

SOURCES WHICH MAY BE RELEVANT TO OTHER DISCUSSION: ======================================================= Continue reading →

Rate this:

Share this:

  • Email
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr
  • Pocket
  • Print
  • More
  • Telegram
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • WhatsApp
  • Skype

Like this:

Like Loading...
Posted in AUDIO, BUSINESS, HISTORY, HOUSE & HOME, OPINION - POLITICAL, SOCIAL, SHOW INFORMATION, SOCIAL, SOCIETY, Thinkwing Radio | Tagged afl-cio, Egberto Willies, grover cleveland, Haymarket Massacre, kpft, KPFT-FM, labor day, Labor Movement, mike honig, National Labor Relations Act, New Mexico Restaurant Association, NLRB, pacifica, Rene Lara, Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce, Somos Un Pueblo Unido (We are a United People), Thinkwing Radio, Triangle Shirt Waist Factory, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Unions, Worker Committees, Workforce Freedom Initiative | Leave a reply

Mon, 9/17/2018, 2PM (CT) on 90.1FM. POSSIBLE TOPICS: Be registered to Vote, Kavanaugh and Crime, Trump lies at rallies 68% of the time, Teachers and 2nd jobs, MORE. GUESTS: Open Forum [AUDIO/VIDEO] SUPPORT @KPFTHouston

Posted on September 17, 2018 by Thinkwing Radio
Reply

SHOW AUDIO: Link is usually posted within about 72 hours of show broadcast. We take callers during this show at 713-526-5738. 

Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig (@ThinkwingRadio), a listener call-in show  airing live every Monday night from 2-3 PM (CT) on KPFT-FM 90.1 (Houston). My engineer is Don.

https://thinkwingradio.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/kpft_2018-09-17_1400-be-registered-to-vote-kavanaugh-and-crime-trump-lies-at-rallies-68-of-the-time-teachers-and-2nd-jobs.mp3

Listen live on the radio, or on the internet from anywhere in the world! When the show is live, we take calls at 713-526-5738. (Long distance charges may apply.)

Please take a moment to visit Pledge.KPFT.org and choose THINKWING RADIO from the drop-down list when you donate.

For the purposes of this show, I operate on two mottoes:

  • You’re entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts;
    Houston Mayor Annise Parker [L] with Mike, just before the show. (Dec. 14, 2015)

    Houston Mayor Annise Parker [L] with Mike, just before the show. (Dec. 7, 2015)

  • An educated electorate is a prerequisite for a democracy.

SIGNOFF QUOTE[s]:“Strong, responsible unions are essential to industrial fair play.  Without them the labor bargain is wholly one-sided.  The parties to the labor contract must be nearly equal in strength if justice is to be worked out, and this means that the workers must be organized and that their organizations must be recognized by employers as a condition precedent to industrial peace.” —Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis (from http://laborquotes.weebly.com/unions–labor.html)

 

Continue reading →

Rate this:

Share this:

  • Email
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr
  • Pocket
  • Print
  • More
  • Telegram
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • WhatsApp
  • Skype

Like this:

Like Loading...
Posted in AUDIO, BUSINESS, ENVIRONMENT, government, HISTORY, OPINION - POLITICAL, OPINION - POLITICAL, SOCIAL, POLITICS/DOMESTIC, POLITICS/INTERNATIONAL, SHOW INFORMATION, SOCIETY, Thinkwing Radio, VIDEO | Tagged CEO Pay, Currency valuations, government regulations, Hand Sanitizers, Insider Trading, Jeff Bezos, labor day, MAJOR FOREIGN HOLDERS OF TREASURY SECURITIES, NAFTA, scotus, Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, The Onion, toilet paper, trump, turkey, Typhus, Unions, wages | Leave a reply

Mon, 9/10/2018, 2PM (CT) on 90.1FM. POSSIBLE TOPICS: Be registered to Vote, US to threaten sanctions against International Criminal Court, Trump’s latest boast about the economy not close to accurate, Ford: Trump wrong on building Focus in US, Democrats love Canada. Republicans, not so much, U.S. poll finds, Hurricane Florence, U.S. is denying passports to Americans along the border, Texas Typhus, MORE. GUESTS: Open Forum [AUDIO/VIDEO] SUPPORT @KPFTHouston

Posted on September 10, 2018 by Thinkwing Radio
Reply

SHOW AUDIO: Link is usually posted within about 72 hours of show broadcast. We take callers during this show at 713-526-5738. 

Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig (@ThinkwingRadio), a listener call-in show  airing live every Monday night from 2-3 PM (CT) on KPFT-FM 90.1 (Houston). My engineer is Don.

https://thinkwingradio.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/kpft_2018-09-10_1400us-threaten-sanctions-against-intl-criminal-court-trumps-latest-lie-about-the-economy-trump-wrong-on-building-focus-in-us-dems-love-canada-repubs-not-so-muc.mp3

Listen live on the radio, or on the internet from anywhere in the world! When the show is live, we take calls at 713-526-5738. (Long distance charges may apply.)

Please take a moment to visit Pledge.KPFT.org and choose THINKWING RADIO from the drop-down list when you donate.

For the purposes of this show, I operate on two mottoes:

  • You’re entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts;
    Houston Mayor Annise Parker [L] with Mike, just before the show. (Dec. 14, 2015)

    Houston Mayor Annise Parker [L] with Mike, just before the show. (Dec. 7, 2015)

  • An educated electorate is a prerequisite for a democracy.

SIGNOFF QUOTE[s]:“Strong, responsible unions are essential to industrial fair play.  Without them the labor bargain is wholly one-sided.  The parties to the labor contract must be nearly equal in strength if justice is to be worked out, and this means that the workers must be organized and that their organizations must be recognized by employers as a condition precedent to industrial peace.” —Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis (from http://laborquotes.weebly.com/unions–labor.html)

 

Continue reading →

Rate this:

Share this:

  • Email
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr
  • Pocket
  • Print
  • More
  • Telegram
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • WhatsApp
  • Skype

Like this:

Like Loading...
Posted in AUDIO, BUSINESS, ENVIRONMENT, government, HISTORY, OPINION - POLITICAL, OPINION - POLITICAL, SOCIAL, POLITICS/DOMESTIC, POLITICS/INTERNATIONAL, SHOW INFORMATION, SOCIETY, Thinkwing Radio, VIDEO | Tagged CEO Pay, Currency valuations, government regulations, Hand Sanitizers, Insider Trading, Jeff Bezos, labor day, MAJOR FOREIGN HOLDERS OF TREASURY SECURITIES, NAFTA, scotus, Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, The Onion, toilet paper, trump, turkey, Typhus, Unions, wages | Leave a reply

Mon, 9/3/2018, 2PM (CT) on 90.1FM. POSSIBLE TOPICS: LABOR DAY – The Re-Unionization of America, New ‘NAFTA’?, MORE. SUPPORT KPFT. GUESTS: Open Forum [AUDIO/VIDEO] SUPPORT @KPFTHouston. GUESTS: Open Forum [AUDIO/VIDEO] @KPFTHouston

Posted on September 3, 2018 by Thinkwing Radio
Reply

SHOW AUDIO: Link is usually posted within about 72 hours of show broadcast. We take callers during this show at 713-526-5738. 

Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig (@ThinkwingRadio), a listener call-in show  airing live every Monday night from 2-3 PM (CT) on KPFT-FM 90.1 (Houston). My engineer is Don.

https://thinkwingradio.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/kpft_2018-09-03_1400-labor-day-the-re-unionization-of-america-new-nafta.mp3

Listen live on the radio, or on the internet from anywhere in the world! When the show is live, we take calls at 713-526-5738. (Long distance charges may apply.)

Please take a moment to visit Pledge.KPFT.org and choose THINKWING RADIO from the drop-down list when you donate.

For the purposes of this show, I operate on two mottoes:

  • You’re entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts;
    Houston Mayor Annise Parker [L] with Mike, just before the show. (Dec. 14, 2015)

    Houston Mayor Annise Parker [L] with Mike, just before the show. (Dec. 7, 2015)

  • An educated electorate is a prerequisite for a democracy.

SIGNOFF QUOTE[s]:“Strong, responsible unions are essential to industrial fair play.  Without them the labor bargain is wholly one-sided.  The parties to the labor contract must be nearly equal in strength if justice is to be worked out, and this means that the workers must be organized and that their organizations must be recognized by employers as a condition precedent to industrial peace.” —Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis (from http://laborquotes.weebly.com/unions–labor.html)

 

Continue reading →

Rate this:

Share this:

  • Email
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr
  • Pocket
  • Print
  • More
  • Telegram
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • WhatsApp
  • Skype

Like this:

Like Loading...
Posted in AUDIO, BUSINESS, ENVIRONMENT, government, HISTORY, OPINION - POLITICAL, OPINION - POLITICAL, SOCIAL, POLITICS/DOMESTIC, POLITICS/INTERNATIONAL, SHOW INFORMATION, SOCIETY, Thinkwing Radio, VIDEO | Tagged CEO Pay, Currency valuations, government regulations, Hand Sanitizers, Insider Trading, Jeff Bezos, labor day, MAJOR FOREIGN HOLDERS OF TREASURY SECURITIES, NAFTA, scotus, Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, The Onion, toilet paper, trump, turkey, Typhus, Unions, wages | Leave a reply

#Thinkwing Radio: Mon, 8-28-2017 (Originally broadcast 9/7/2015), 9PM @KPFTHouston FM 90.1. TOPIC(s): Why Do We Celebrate Labor Day ? What is the future of organized labor? GUEST: Rene’ Lara, Legislative and Political Director of the Texas AFL-CIO & Lane Lewis, HCDP Chair [AUDIO]

Posted on August 28, 2017 by Thinkwing Radio
Reply

THINKWING RADIO MOVED TO MONDAYS @ 9-10 PM, BEGINNING 4/13/2015.

SHOW AUDIO: 

 https://thinkwingradio.files.wordpress.com/2017/08/kpft_2017-08-28_2100-originally-broadcast-9-7-2015-topics-why-do-we-celebrate-labor-day.mp3

Link is usually posted within about 72 hours of show broadcast.

Listen live on the radio or on the internet from anywhere in the world! When the show is live, we take calls at 713-526-5738. (Long distance charges may apply.)

Welcome to Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig (@ThinkwingRadio), a listener call-in show (every Monday night from 9-10PM CT) on KPFT-FM 90.1 (Houston). My engineer and discussion partner is Egberto Willies (@EgbertoWillies).

For the purposes of this show, I operate on two mottoes:

  • You’re entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts;
  • An educated electorate is a prerequisite for a democracy.

GUESTS: (More complete biographical info on my guests are below Source links.)

Rene’ Lara, Legislative and Political Director of the Texas AFL-CIO, which is a federation of public-sector and private-sector labor unions in Texas, including affiliates representing teachers, firefighters, plumbers, flight attendants, steelworkers, nurses, communications and electrical workers, and many others.(See more complete bio below topical links)

Lane Lewis, Chair of the Harris County Democratic Party

POSSIBLE TOPICS: Unions and Labor Day, and the future of the labor movement in America

  • “Without the labor advances won by #Unions, #Capitalism itself might not exist today.” ~ Me
    • Let’s talk first about Labor Day. How was it created, and why is it in September instead of May Day, like the rest of the world’s equivalent labor celebrations?
  • The Labor Union movement was strong after WW2. What happened to weaken it?
    • Conservatives have succeeded in villainizing unions in the minds of many workers. How have they accomplished that?
    • How can it be reversed?
  • “We continually try to read Conservatives through Liberal-colored glasses. When we try to see things as Conservatives see them through their own eyes, understanding can arise. From that understanding can come effective Progressive responses.” ~ Michael R. Honig, 4/28/2015 (inspired by Jackson Galaxy)
    • Is that a trick that progressives and labor groups need to try to learn, and can they?
  • Is the political labor pendulum beginning to swing the other way now?
  • Judging from the current political and legal climate, it almost seems like labor organizing needs to start over again.
    • What will labor organizing look like as the 21st century progresses?
    • Is Unionization Important to Closing Racial Wage Gap?         Study Says, SEPT. 4, 2015
    • The NY Times had an interesting article on workers’ committees (Workers Organize, but Don’t Unionize, to Get Protection Under Labor Law).
      • I loved this quote: “We feel that the group’s tactics are over the top,” said Carol Wight, chief executive of the New Mexico Restaurant Association. “I think there are nicer, more effective ways of getting what you want — achieving justice for workers.”
      • The article makes 2 important points:
        1. Unions, at least in New Mexico, have not shown much interest in organizing low-wage workers;
        2. “Workers Committees” are easier to organize than unions.
      • What does this development mean for workers in the future?
      • What does it mean for unions going forward?
    • Unions need money to do their work, whether it’s paying full-time officials, forming strike funds or funding political action.
      • Can unions survive in their current form, and if so, how?
      • If unions have to change, what might those changes look like?
    • Specifically, does the AFL-CIO and it’s brother and sister unions have new strategies going forward that we can discuss here tonight?

SOURCES WHICH MAY BE RELEVANT TO OTHER DISCUSSION:

=======================================================

Continue reading →

Rate this:

Share this:

  • Email
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr
  • Pocket
  • Print
  • More
  • Telegram
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • WhatsApp
  • Skype

Like this:

Like Loading...
Posted in AUDIO, BUSINESS, HISTORY, HOUSE & HOME, OPINION - POLITICAL, SOCIAL, SHOW INFORMATION, SOCIAL, SOCIETY, Thinkwing Radio | Tagged afl-cio, Egberto Willies, grover cleveland, Haymarket Massacre, kpft, KPFT-FM, labor day, Labor Movement, mike honig, National Labor Relations Act, New Mexico Restaurant Association, NLRB, pacifica, Rene Lara, Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce, Somos Un Pueblo Unido (We are a United People), Thinkwing Radio, Triangle Shirt Waist Factory, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Unions, Worker Committees, Workforce Freedom Initiative | Leave a reply

Repost from 9/10/2010: What Is Labor Day Really About? (Commentary, Oct. 1, 2010) [AUDIO]

Posted on September 5, 2016 by Thinkwing Radio
Reply

I like to to run this piece on Labor Day. First published 9/10/2010

________________________________________

ThinkWing Radio with Mike Honig, 10/1/2010, 100110-FULL SHOW Audio GUEST: Becky Moeller, president of the Texas AFL-CIO   Topic/Commentary: Why We Celebrate Labor Day.

It’s been just a few weeks since Labor Day, and we all celebrated it after our own fashion.

Some of us visited friends and shared their barbeques, or had our own. Some of us went to the beach for maybe the last time this year. Our kids enjoyed their last long weekend, a last faint shadow of their summer vacations, before the months of school until their next holiday.

So we all celebrated in our fashion. But what is it we were celebrating?

Like most national or state holidays, the reason for the holiday gets lost and forgotten. It becomes just the “day off” or “long weekend” which we’re REALLY celebrating.

So Washington’s birthday and Lincoln’s birthday become “President’s Day”. A day to remember what, exactly? Store sales?

Continue reading →

Rate this:

Share this:

  • Email
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr
  • Pocket
  • Print
  • More
  • Telegram
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • WhatsApp
  • Skype

Like this:

Like Loading...
Posted in BUSINESS, HISTORY, OPINION - POLITICAL, SOCIAL, POLITICS/DOMESTIC, POLITICS/INTERNATIONAL, SOCIETY | Tagged 16 tons, business, capitalism, capitalist, child labor, coal mine, collective bargaining, company store, garment worker, holiday, labor, labor day, organizing, pinkerton, scab, sixteen tons, strike, strike breaker, tennessee ernie ford, triangle shirt, umw, union, united mine workers | Leave a reply

#Thinkwing Radio: Mon, 9/7/2015, 9PM @KPFTHouston FM 90.1. TOPIC(s): Why Do We Celebrate Labor Day ? What is the future of organized labor? GUEST: Rene’ Lara, Legislative and Political Director of the Texas AFL-CIO & Lane Lewis, HCDP Chair [AUDIO]

Posted on September 7, 2015 by Thinkwing Radio
Reply

THINKWING RADIO MOVED TO MONDAYS @ 9-10 PM, BEGINNING 4/13/2015.

SHOW AUDIO: 

https://thinkwingradio.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/kpft_2015-09-07_2100-history-of-labor-day-future-of-organized-labor.mp3

thinkwingradio.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/kpft_2015-09-07_2100-history-of-labor-day-future-of-organized-labor.mp3

Link is usually posted within about 72 hours of show broadcast.

Listen live on the radio or on the internet from anywhere in the world! When the show is live, we take calls at 713-526-5738. (Long distance charges may apply.)

Welcome to Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig (@ThinkwingRadio), a listener call-in show (every Monday night from 9-10PM CT) on KPFT-FM 90.1 (Houston). My engineer and discussion partner is Egberto Willies (@EgbertoWillies).

For the purposes of this show, I operate on two mottoes:

  • You’re entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts;
  • An educated electorate is a prerequisite for a democracy.

GUESTS: (More complete biographical info on my guests are below Source links.)

Rene’ Lara, Legislative and Political Director of the Texas AFL-CIO, which is a federation of public-sector and private-sector labor unions in Texas, including affiliates representing teachers, firefighters, plumbers, flight attendants, steelworkers, nurses, communications and electrical workers, and many others.(See more complete bio below topical links)

Lane Lewis, Chair of the Harris County Democratic Party

POSSIBLE TOPICS: Unions and Labor Day, and the future of the labor movement in America

  • “Without the labor advances won by #Unions, #Capitalism itself might not exist today.” ~ Me
    • Let’s talk first about Labor Day. How was it created, and why is it in September instead of May Day, like the rest of the world’s equivalent labor celebrations?
  • The Labor Union movement was strong after WW2. What happened to weaken it?
    • Conservatives have succeeded in villainizing unions in the minds of many workers. How have they accomplished that?
    • How can it be reversed?
  • “We continually try to read Conservatives through Liberal-colored glasses. When we try to see things as Conservatives see them through their own eyes, understanding can arise. From that understanding can come effective Progressive responses.” ~ Michael R. Honig, 4/28/2015 (inspired by Jackson Galaxy)
    • Is that a trick that progressives and labor groups need to try to learn, and can they?
  • Is the political labor pendulum beginning to swing the other way now?
  • Judging from the current political and legal climate, it almost seems like labor organizing needs to start over again.
    • What will labor organizing look like as the 21st century progresses?
    • Is Unionization Important to Closing Racial Wage Gap?         Study Says, SEPT. 4, 2015
    • The NY Times had an interesting article on workers’ committees (Workers Organize, but Don’t Unionize, to Get Protection Under Labor Law).
      • I loved this quote: “We feel that the group’s tactics are over the top,” said Carol Wight, chief executive of the New Mexico Restaurant Association. “I think there are nicer, more effective ways of getting what you want — achieving justice for workers.”
      • The article makes 2 important points:
        1. Unions, at least in New Mexico, have not shown much interest in organizing low-wage workers;
        2. “Workers Committees” are easier to organize than unions.
      • What does this development mean for workers in the future?
      • What does it mean for unions going forward?
    • Unions need money to do their work, whether it’s paying full-time officials, forming strike funds or funding political action.
      • Can unions survive in their current form, and if so, how?
      • If unions have to change, what might those changes look like?
    • Specifically, does the AFL-CIO and it’s brother and sister unions have new strategies going forward that we can discuss here tonight?

SOURCES WHICH MAY BE RELEVANT TO OTHER DISCUSSION:

=======================================================

Continue reading →

Rate this:

Share this:

  • Email
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr
  • Pocket
  • Print
  • More
  • Telegram
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • WhatsApp
  • Skype

Like this:

Like Loading...
Posted in AUDIO, BUSINESS, HISTORY, HOUSE & HOME, OPINION - POLITICAL, SOCIAL, SHOW INFORMATION, SOCIAL, SOCIETY, Thinkwing Radio | Tagged afl-cio, Egberto Willies, grover cleveland, Haymarket Massacre, kpft, KPFT-FM, labor day, Labor Movement, mike honig, National Labor Relations Act, New Mexico Restaurant Association, NLRB, pacifica, Rene Lara, Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce, Somos Un Pueblo Unido (We are a United People), Thinkwing Radio, Triangle Shirt Waist Factory, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Unions, Worker Committees, Workforce Freedom Initiative | Leave a reply

What Is Labor Day Really About? (Commentary, Oct. 1, 2010) [AUDIO]

Posted on October 2, 2010 by Thinkwing Radio
6

ThinkWing Radio with Mike Honig, 10/1/2010, 100110-FULL SHOW Audio GUEST: Becky Moeller, president of the Texas AFL-CIO   Topic/Commentary: Why We Celebrate Labor Day.

It’s been just a few weeks since Labor Day, and we all celebrated it after our own fashion.

Some of us visited friends and shared their barbeques, or had our own. Some of us went to the beach for maybe the last time this year. Our kids enjoyed their last long weekend, a last faint shadow of their summer vacations, before the months of school until their next holiday.

So we all celebrated in our fashion. But what is it we were celebrating?

Like most national or state holidays, the reason for the holiday gets lost and forgotten. It becomes just the “day off” or “long weekend” which we’re REALLY celebrating.

So Washington’s birthday and Lincoln’s birthday become “President’s Day”. A day to remember what, exactly? Store sales?

Memorial Day, Martin Luther King’s Birthday, Veteran’s Day … By an act of Congress, these days, once deemed special enough to close the federal government and our entire financial system, are now just  a way of creating long weekends and special shopping days.

And so it is with Labor Day, and I’ll plead guilty myself. We all take the weekend, cook the food, splash at the beach, or whatever we do, but we never think about why there is a Labor Day.

American workers today are often anti-union. The irony is that they’re anti-union while working eight-hour days won by unions, five-day weeks won by unions, getting time and a half for overtime and double time on holidays won by unions, vacation and sick days won by unions, and getting health and retirement benefits won by unions.

But trust me … Business owners and corporate executives didn’t award these “normal benefits” to workers out of the goodness of their hearts, and they didn’t give these benefits to workers because some factory worker came hat in hand and asked nicely.

History is rife with violence perpetrated against union members by hired thugs, Pinkerton employees, police and even the U.S. Army.

The first American labor unions are said to have been created as early as the late 1700’s, but the Labor Union Movement started in a big way after the Civil War.

Before labor unions in the United States, workers often put in 12- and 18-hour days, sometimes 7 days a week. Industrial accidents, maiming and deaths were common, though in some industries more than others.

Child labor in factories was beyond anything we can imagine now. Elementary school-age children were working in textile mills, standing on wooden boxes for 10-12 hours per day so that they could reach the controls which operated the machines. Now imagine them breathing in the textile dust and contracting brown lung disease and developing emphysema before they even turn 25.

Imagine pre-teen boys going a mile or more down into coal mines full of explosive coal dust and methane.

Imagine thousands of these boys and men being killed each and every year from mine collapses, or because there wasn’t adequate ventilation to reduce coal dust and methane to safe levels, or because technology was focused on production more than safety or health.

Nor were women safe from life-threatening exploitation. In 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist fire killed 146 garment workers. The company was on the 8th to 10th floors. The workers had been locked in by their managers to prevent theft. Unable to escape the fire, many of those killed leapt 100 feet to their deaths, rather than burn to death in the flames.

The Triangle Shirtwaist fire, to this day, is still one of the worst industrial disasters in the history of New York City.

To many businesses of the time, these weren’t truly people. They were simply means to an end. If they were killed or injured, sickened or quit, there were plenty more where they came from, because there was no such thing as a living wage and everyone needed brutal hours of work at any job they could find.

The worst part is – and yes there’s a worse part – the worst part is that even the people performing these horrific labors for all these exhausting hours in these dangerous conditions, were sometimes cheated at the end by their employers, and found their pay envelopes short for reasons contrived by the owners.

Workers were sometimes paid in company scrip, good only at the company store. Without cash payments, these workers became nothing more than indentured servants, unable to save any money to find a better life.

In 1955, Tennessee Ernie Ford recorded a song about coal miners and the company store called “Sixteen Tons” (1955).

Here’s a bit of it: [CUE SONG FROM 0:01 to 0:38. Then fade]

Death, injury, dismemberment… These were all routine costs of doing business to the capitalists of the time. Of course the families of the dead, ill and injured felt somewhat more emotional about these traumatic outcomes.

As we know even today, one person can’t go to a manager with a grievance without risking their job. The point of a union, then, is to create a balance of power, just like in world diplomacy.

The fight for unions that could negotiate with owners really was a fight. It involved paid Pinkerton thugs, police, and even troops. People were killed. Companies went to great lengths – life and death lengths — to prevent unions and union organizers from signing up employees.

As I’ve said on this show before, the single purpose of a business is to make money. Balancing that imperative in our society requires other institutions with other purposes.

Unions aren’t perfect, and businesses can’t be held responsible for being what they are meant to be. But as with any negotiation, the fairest outcome is a negotiation between equals.

Unions give individual workers that equality of negotiating power.

The benefits most workers take for granted and enjoy today are the result of at least 150 years of struggles by American workers to organize, create unions, and get companies to agree to collective bargaining.

And these struggles weren’t just paperwork projects fought by blue-collar desk-jockeys. One source calls American labor union history the bloodiest of any industrialized nation on earth.

So today, the average working person’s job benefits are all considered just the normal stuff by most people. It’s always been the way of things in living memory.

Workers created Labor Day on their own in 1882. It became a national holiday in 1894.

On Labor Day and every day, when workers today get the benefits they feel are their normal entitlement, they should remember that they weren’t free. The same as our national freedom, people fought and died for those benefits.

And in the world we live in today, as with our nation’s freedom, constant worker vigilance is required to maintain them.

ADDITIONAL INFO (Added 1/24/2013):

  • “NEAR CLOSING TIME ON MARCH 25, 1911, a fire broke out at the Triangle Shirt Waist Factory

Rate this:

Share this:

  • Email
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr
  • Pocket
  • Print
  • More
  • Telegram
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • WhatsApp
  • Skype

Like this:

Like Loading...
Posted in BUSINESS, HISTORY, OPINION - POLITICAL, SOCIAL, POLITICS/DOMESTIC, POLITICS/INTERNATIONAL, SOCIETY | Tagged 16 tons, business, capitalism, capitalist, child labor, coal mine, collective bargaining, company store, garment worker, holiday, labor, labor day, organizing, pinkerton, scab, sixteen tons, strike, strike breaker, tennessee ernie ford, triangle shirt, umw, union, united mine workers | 6 Replies

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 1,165 other followers

I Voted

Categories

HISTORY

  • Der Speigel (Germany), World War II
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Audio/Video Archive
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum
  • Harry S. Truman Library and Museum
  • How To Be A Retronaut
  • Paleofuture Blog (Part of The Smithsonian Family of Blogs)

NEWS SOURCES

  • ABC News
  • Al Jazeera (English)
  • BBC News (U.S. and Canada)
  • CBS News
  • Center for Responsive Politics: OpenSecrets.org
  • Christian Science Monitor
  • Der Speigel (Germany, in English)
  • Los Angeles Times
  • Mother Jones Magazine (News & Opinion)
  • MSNBC News
  • New York Times
  • ProPublica: Journalism In The Public Interest
  • San Francisco Chronicle
  • The Brad Blog
  • The Harvard Crimson
  • The Nation Magazine (News & Opinion)
  • The Texas Tribune
  • USA Today
  • War On The Rocks
  • Washington Post

OCCUPY MOVEMENT

  • Occupy Austin [TX]
  • Occupy Houston
  • Occupy Kingwood [TX]
  • Occupy News Service
  • Occupy Together – Occupy News; Find a Local Group or Start One
  • Occupy Wall Street
  • West Coast Port Blockade – Shut Down Wall Street On The Water Front

POLITICAL ARTICLES & OPINIONS

  • Addicting Info
  • Building a Nation of Know-Nothings, By TIMOTHY EGAN [August 25, 2010, 8:30 pm]
  • The Brad Blog
  • War On The Rocks

POLITICS/DOMESTIC

  • Harris County Democratic Party
  • Harris County Green Party
  • Harris County Republican Party
  • Libertarian Party of Texas – Harris County
  • Modern Whig Party (MWP)
  • War On The Rocks

POLITICS/INTERNATIONAL

  • Der Speigel (Germany), World War II
  • War On The Rocks

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

  • NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  • TGDaily
  • The 100 Year Star Ship
  • The Planetary Society

SOCIAL NETWORKING

  • ThinkWing Radio with Mike Honig on FACEBOOK

SOCIETY

  • Building a Nation of Know-Nothings, By TIMOTHY EGAN [August 25, 2010, 8:30 pm]

VOTING

  • Can I Vote.org
  • Federal Voting Assistance Program
  • GottaVote.org (Find Your State)
  • GottaVote.org (Texas)

Top Clicks

  • officeblogs.net/excel/Pat…
  • blogs.office.com/b/micros…
  • sheepsheadbites.com/2013/…
  • dailydoseofexcel.com/arch…
  • blogs.msdn.com/excel/arch…
  • space.com/11006-air-force…
  • adamtroycastro.com
  • amazon.com/Sharp-R-930AW-…

Recent Posts

  • Mon, 12/9/2019, 3PM (CT) @KPFTHouston 90.1FM. POSSIBLE TOPICS: ACA & Medicare Registration, Voter Info, ‘It Just Isn’t Working’: PISA Test Scores Cast Doubt on U.S. Education Efforts, Pierce Bush announces bid for suburban Houston congressional seat, NATO Conference Is Canceled After U.S. Ambassador Barred a Trump Critic, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Amazon’s new New York City offices: I told you so, One of the last survivors of the USS Arizona will be interred on the sunken warship, Want Trump to Go? Take to the Streets, Federalist Society and Judges, More. GUESTS: CALLERS[AUDIO/VIDEO]
  • Mon, 12/2/2019, 3PM (CT) @KPFTHouston 90.1FM. POSSIBLE TOPICS: ACA & Medicare Enrollment, Voter Info, Forgiving Student Debt Would Boost Economy, Trump renews tariff threat on Brazil and Argentina, Ukraine to fire hundreds of prosecutors by year’s end, Want Trump to Go? Take to the Streets, Rising Seas Will Erase More Cities by 2050, X-37B Spaceplane Finishes 780 Day Mission, Hidden Hunger Affecting Billions, Want Trump to Go? Take to the Streets, Federalist Society and Judges, More. GUESTS: CALLERS[AUDIO/VIDEO]
  • Mon, 11/25/2019, 3PM (CT) @KPFTHouston 90.1FM. POSSIBLE TOPICS: ACA & Medicare Enrollment, Voter Info, HISD Teachers Fight Back Against State Takeover, MN school throws away 40 students’ lunches due to debt, SCOTUS lets lawsuit by climate scientist continue against conservative outlets, GM/Toyota/Chrysler side with Trump in fight over CA fuel stds exposing auto industry split, Rising Seas Will Erase More Cities by 2050, X-37B Spaceplane Finishes 780 Day Mission, Hidden Hunger Affecting Billions, Want Trump to Go? Take to the Streets, Federalist Society and Judges, More. GUESTS: CALLERS[AUDIO/VIDEO]
  • Medicare Enrollment is upon us! Easy-to-Use Technology for Seniors Aids to Maintain Their Well-Being By Katybeth Dee (katybeth@selfexam.org)
  • Mon, 11/18/2019, 3PM (CT) @KPFTHouston 90.1FM. POSSIBLE TOPICS: Voter Info, Rodney Reed Execution Postponed By Appeals Court In Face Of New Evidence, What Does It Take To Get New Evidence Reviewed? Rodney Reed – How Appeals Courts Look At New Evidence, Greg Doucette Endorses Elizabeth Warren, Private Prisons & Prison Reform, Criminal Justice Reform, Healthcare, Education, More. GUEST: T. Greg Doucette, Attorney At Law [AUDIO/VIDEO]
  • Mon, 11/11/2019, 3PM (CT) @KPFTHouston 90.1FM. POSSIBLE TOPICS: Voter Info, State to take over Houston ISD, Rodney Reed Execution, Nikki Haley, Impeachment, Want Trump to Go? Take to the Streets, Federalist Society and Judges, More. GUESTS: CALLERS[AUDIO/VIDEO]
  • RE-POST: Is This America’s Most Famous Unknown Soldier Of World War 2? [VIDEO]
  • Mon, 11/4/2019, 3PM (CT) @KPFTHouston 90.1FM. POSSIBLE TOPICS: Voter Info, Texas Amendments on Ballot, Trump defends keeping Dems in the dark on al-Baghdadi raid, Want Trump to Go? Take to the Streets, The Student Vote Is Surging. So Are Efforts to Suppress It, Who has qualified for the November Democratic debate , Federalist Society and Judges, More. GUESTS: HARRIS CTY CLERK DIANNE TRAUTMAN[AUDIO/VIDEO]
  • Mon, 10/28/2019, 3PM (CT) @KPFTHouston 90.1FM. POSSIBLE TOPICS: Voter Info, Texas Amendments on Ballot, Trump defends keeping Dems in the dark on al-Baghdadi raid, Want Trump to Go? Take to the Streets, The Student Vote Is Surging. So Are Efforts to Suppress It, Who has qualified for the November Democratic debate , Federalist Society and Judges, More. GUESTS: Callers [AUDIO/VIDEO]
  • “Early voting in Texas’ constitutional amendment election starts Monday. Here’s what voters will decide.” By Davis Rich, The Texas Tribune(Oct. 15, 2019)

Archives

  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission.

Blog Stats

  • 214,908 hits

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission.

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com
Blog at WordPress.com.
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
Cancel
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
%d bloggers like this: