|
GAYLORD SHOWS WHAT'S WRONG WITH LABOR
On Labor Day, we take time to reflect on and celebrate accomplishments and new beginnings regarding union labor in the United States. Considering the recent local controversy over the Gaylord-Chula Vista bayfront project, debate over the future relevancy of the organized labor movement now seems more prescient than at any time in our regional history. But to understand that future, we must turn our attention to the past.
The father of the modern union movement was Samuel Gompers, the legendary founder of the American Federation of Labor. Gompers made sure that labor remained inoculated against the burgeoning threat of socialism and the bitter rancor of partisan politics, focusing instead on organizing and winning concessions from targeted industries through collective bargaining. In the first half of the century, the AFL even refused to support minimum wage legislation. Labor under Gompers was dedicated to the principles of free enterprise under a market economy and opted for what he and his colleagues referred to as “trade unionism,” a collective bargaining strategy on which workers from across the political spectrum could agree. MORE.
» Back to News and Press
|
