My introduction into the world of labor was an unusual one.
“Your fathers work in the mills” our sixth-grade teacher sternly told us.
The religious sisters in the school were firm in making us appreciate our parents’ responsibilities in raising a family.
Good advice. But I had no idea what “the mills” were. Maybe she meant flour mills?
“Does dad work in the flour mills?” I asked my mom. “Sister said all of our dads worked in the mills.”
No, those are the steel mills, my mom explained to me. “Your dad is a college teacher.”
I felt a bit left out. Why was our family different? We had moved from southern Indiana to a south suburb of Chicago several years prior to that. Here, huge factories such as US Steel and Wisconsin Steel employed tens of thousands of workers in the heyday of US steel production.
But my brothers and sisters and I had little awareness of the area’s industry, whose production made possible private colleges, such as the one where dad taught.
Dirty and Tedious
My first involvement with organized labor came when I joined a union where I worked one summer at a factory that put tar-based coverings on long pipes.
One of my jobs was to help the pipes on their journey roll toward a machine that coated them with rubbery insulation. I used a long bar with teeth on the end to grab the pipes along the edge. It was boring work because the pipes that needed help came infrequently, and yet I had to stand at attention, waiting for the next reluctant one.
I came home each day with my face smudged with coal tar. And I had to wash my hair to remove tiny specks of black stuff that had nestled themselves there.
Vital function
You can argue about labor unions, but you have to admit that they have served a vital function in society – ensuring safe working conditions and reasonable wages and benefits, for example.
There is a Labor Day story in today’s Chicago Tribune that talks about a Starbucks employee having to work two years before getting three days’ of vacation. That’s a long time.
The paper notes that employees from at least ten Starbucks stores have filed for union representation from Starbucks Workers United since January.
Hats off to all those who labor and who must collaborate with employers to ensure a dignified working experience.