The single most ignorant comment ever called into C-Span occurred this morning.

[ThomWV]

I believe it was the first caller into the Washington Journal program this morning. Today's discussion, naturally enough, centers around US labor. A fellow calls in and said (when I used single quotes I am paraphrasing):

'Labor Day is a day everyone gets to take off work, its got nothing to do with unions, so lets not waste the morning talking about them'

What has this country come to when you get to hear such ignorance? Labor day is about nothing but Unions, it was started as a Union day and has remained one ever since.

[Broderick]

1. That's why I am working today

I am not part of a union.

[krispos42]

2. That's not true?

Well, anyway, I'm off to prepare for next Memorial Day. That's when we all get a day off to help our memories.

[ThomWV]

5. Hell no its not true. I hate to use Wiki, but here in a paragraph is the history of the holiday

From Wikipedia:


"The first big Labor Day in the United States was observed on September 5, 1882, by the Central Labor Union of New York.<1> It was first proposed by Peter J. McGuire of the American Federation of Labor in May 1882 <2>
Oregon was the first state to make it a holiday in 1887. By the time it became a federal holiday in 1894, thirty states officially celebrated Labor Day.<2>. Following the deaths of a number of workers at the hands of the U.S. military and U.S. Marshals during the Pullman Strike, President Grover Cleveland reconciled with the labor movement. Fearing further conflict, legislation making Labor Day a national holiday was rushed through Congress unanimously and signed into law a mere six days after the end of the strike.<3> The September date originally chosen by the CLU of New York and observed by many of the nation's trade unions for the past several years was selected rather than the more widespread International Workers' Day because Cleveland was concerned that observance of the latter would stir up negative emotions linked to the Haymarket Affair, which it had been observed to commemorate.<4> All U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and the territories have made it a statutory holiday."

[krispos42]

22. Wikipedia is in error

It's Grand Central Union Labor Station of New York, and it's pretty spectacular. I've been there on numerous occasions, and the ceiling is gorgeous!

;-)

[Tuesday Afternoon]

6. ! you funny person. I see what you did there.

:D

[lumberjack_jeff]

21. +1 n/t

[marmar]

3. Labor history has been completely extracted from textbooks.....

I went to high school in the late 1980s, and I don't think I heard the word "labor" in class.

[Selatius]

23. I went to high school in the 1990s. I don't remember it either.

For that matter, I never heard of any major incidents between management and labor covered in high school textbooks either. Sure, you might find reference to the Pullman Strike and definitely the Fair Labor Standards Act, but you won't hear of any reference to the Ludlow Massacre where all the perpetrators escaped free, and a bunch of coal mine workers lay dead for it all. You likely won't see the names of Emma Goldman and Eugene Debs either, except maybe in passing reference.

[LiberalFighter]

4. I suppose nobody on the show rebutted the idiot's statement.

I wonder what he thinks when he goes shopping on Labor Day and finds stores open?

[Arkansas Granny]

Most people don't even realize how many things they can thank labor unions for.

Labor's Top Ten Accomplishments

http://www.afscme.org/news/publications/newsletters/works/novemberdecember-1999/labors-top-10-accomplishments

Would like to go back to the wages and working conditions that were the norm before there were labor unions representing the workers? I don't think so.

[barbtries]

7. i actually think that just might scratch the surface

of some of the dumbed down incredibly ignorant pathetically stupid comments heard on the Journal.

but what i wonder is did anyone set the caller straight?

[ThomWV]

12. Not a chance. However, in her defense, Gretta was actually pretty good today

Gretta wouldn't less some Republican clown off the hook this morning. She had a page of statistics comparing "Right to Work" states with Union states looking at things like average pay rates, job injury numbers, health conditions, working conditions, that sort of thing. She kept on him to explain why things were worse in the "Right to Work" states. Like all Republicans he immediately sidestepped the question and repeated his lines. But bless her teeney weeney heart, Gretta brought him back on subject and repeated the questions. It was sort of like an anti-Susan (Swain) superhero had stood up for just a moment.

[MH1]

18. Did they just hang up and move on to the next caller?

I've noticed they often do that when somebody says something totally ridiculous and off-the-wall. It actually is kind of dismissive when they do that.

[rosesaylavee]

8. As I was reading this post

was also listening to our local classical music station (largest in the Chicago area) and the host said that they are continuing their morning broadcast for this Labor Day as they have been for the past 15 years. And then he went on to say that this day doesn't only commemorate the work that we all do but organized labor as well.

So not everyone is ignorant as to the origin of the day. I am grateful to the unions for many things... I esp like that most of us have weekends off and the 40 hour work week is still a main stay at least in our mindset toward work (tho not reality for the majority of us recently).

Thanks for the thread!

[gordianot]

9. Was his name Scott Walker?

[stillrockin]

10. Oi

[tomp]

11. it started as an opposition to May Day...

...the original day of celebration of workers' strength and solidarity.

guess what, it worked.

Labor day is just another long weekend now.

[Odin2005]

14. +1,000,000,000,000,000,000

[Odin2005]

13. May Day is the REAL labor day, the current holiday was created to hurt the Left in this country.

Celebrating May Day as a day for labor started in this country, yet the Capitalist elite have completely obliterated that from the American consciousness.

[Sirveri]

15. It's technically a celebration of the US Army gunning down strikers.

13 Dead and 57 wounded. Screw you Grover Cleveland, screw you. The holiday was a 'reconciliation' prize.

[Klukie]

16. +1

[ThomWV]

20. I believe you are wrong. "Technically" whatever in hell that is supposed to mean, its appeasement,

It is not a celebration of that Army gunning down anyone. It was an appeasement to the Unions that resulted from the Army gunning down strikers. If you're just going to shout an angry comment the least you can do is use the right words.

[lpbk2713]

17. He can't see the forest for the trees.

Typically dense RWingnut.

[hfojvt]

19. it's about nothing but unions?

so non-union workers don't count?