A DAY TO CELEBRATE LABOR'S ROLE IN OUR LIVES

By Various Sources
It has become the vogue for right-wing pundits, Republicans and shock jocks to belittle the contributions of organized labor to the development of this country.
But those workers who were born in the 1930s and 1940s remember what it was like to work for whatever wage employers cared to set.
In stepped the unions to protect the worker in the workplace. After a long struggle to establish such basics as the minimum wage, equal pay for men and women, a social security system to care for the aged, and the prohibition of child labor, workers in the United States now enjoy some degree of protection denied those generations before them. Unions became the tools to force employers and industry to adhere to fair working conditions and often required legislation at the state and federal levels. Toward that end, unions have supported candidates to the statehouse and national congress to make sure that the interests of the working man and woman are protected from abuse.
In 1938, the U.S. Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 that sets national minimum wages and maximum hours individuals can be required to work. It also sets rules for overtime pay and standards to prevent child-labor abuses.
In 1963, the act was amended to prohibit wage discrimination against women.
Congress adjusts the minimum wage periodically, although the issue often is politically contentious. In 1999, it stood at $5.15 per hour, although the demand for workers was so great at the time that many employers -- even those who hired low-skilled workers -- were paying wages above the minimum. Some individual states set higher wage floors.
This was followed by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that established that employers cannot discriminate in hiring or employment practices on the basis of race, sex, religion, and national origin (the law also prohibits discrimination in voting and housing).
The Age and Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 protects older workers against job discrimination.
The Occupational Health and Safety Act of 1971 requires employers to maintain safe working conditions. Under this law, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) develops workplace standards, conducts inspections to assess compliance with them, and issues citations and imposes penalties for noncompliance.
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA, set standards for pension plans established by businesses or other nonpublic organizations. It was enacted in 1974.
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 guarantees employees unpaid time off for childbirth, for adoption, or for caring for seriously-ill relatives.
The Americans With Disabilities Act, passed in 1990, assures job rights for handicapped persons.
All these advances were won through the militancy and advocacy of labor unions. Now, there are many who object to organized labor's role in the workplace or the deduction of union dues. Many states have passed "right to work" laws which prohibit the deduction of these dues. Labor organizers call these the "right to beg" laws.
It wasn't all easy. There were lockdowns, the beating of union organizers and strikers by company goons, the starving out of strikers in company towns, and the loss of life on both sides. But whether you are on the right or left issue (or in the middle), there is no denying that U.S. workers have fought and won for their rights under the law and deserve our respect. Today we salute these fertile engineers of productivity..