The Macon Telegraph (Georgia), September 3, 2007, Monday

Copyright 2007 The Macon Telegraph

The Macon Telegraph (Georgia)

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News

September 3, 2007 Monday

SECTION: COMMENTARY

HEADLINE: EDITORIAL: Challenges of labor much different this Labor Day

BYLINE: The Macon Telegraph, Ga.

BODY:

Sep. 3--"Labor Day differs in every essential way from the other holidays of the year in any country. All other holidays are in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles of man's prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another. Labor Day is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation."

- Samuel Gompers, president and founder of the American Federation of Labor

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, no one really knows who came up with the idea for labor day. Some say it was Peter McGuire, the general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners. Other say it was Matthew Maguire, a machinist and secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J. We do know that a committee was formed to plan an 1882 "demonstration and picnic."

When the idea for a Labor Day was first hatched, the union movement was just beginning. The American Federation of Labor, founded by Gompers, wouldn't come into existence until 1886.

A visitor from that time period wouldn't recognize today's work force. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women, almost unheard of working outside the home in the 1800s, increased their participation in the labor force from less than 30 percent in 1950 to 59 percent in 2004, and:

--Women held half of the management, professional and related occupations in 2004.

--The percentage of women who earned more than their husbands increased from 17.8 percent 1987 to 25.2 percent in 2003.

It was rare to see African Americans and other minorities included in the workforce though many of the trades they held were skilled. According to Paul Moreno, author of "Black Americans and Organized Labor: A New History" labor unions discriminated because they also served social and political functions. But now African Americans comprise 10.9 percent of the nation's workforce and Hispanics 13.6 percent.

In 2007 there are other challenges for the American worker do deal with. Most of the issues of the 1800s have been dealt with. According to the Economic Policy Institute, American workers are the most productive in the world, adding 199 hours to a year's work since 1973. However, American workers take less vacation time than their counterparts in other countries, and the percentage of American companies offering paid vacations has dropped. Many of today's workers also have no health insurance.

Unlike the 19th century when organized labor was blossoming, the labor movement is in decline. Union participation has fallen from 24.7 percent of the nation's workforce in 1983 to 13.8 percent in 2004.

Another challenge is outsourcing. Researchers at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations, in a report for Congress titled, "The Changing Nature of Corporate Global Restructuring" found that:

--The U.S. Midwest lost the most jobs to outsourcing (18,968) from January through March 2004. The states hardest hit were Illinois (7,555) and Michigan (5,283).

--Unionized jobs accounted for a disproportionate 39 percent of the U.S. jobs that moved to other countries. Twenty-nine percent of the companies shifting production out of the United States were unionized

--From January through March 2004, there were 69 production shifts from the United States to Mexico (compared with 30 during the same period in 2001); 58 shifts to China (compared with 25 shifts in January-March 2001); and 31 shifts to India (compared with 1 shift in January-March 2001). (Read the report at www.news.cornell.edu/ [http://www.news.cornell.edu/] releases/Oct04/jobs.outsourcing.rpt.04.pdf.)All that said, the one thing that will keep American workers the most productive in the world is education. We must diligently train those entering the workforce for increasingly technical positions. Those already in the workforce should know by now that the only certain thing is uncertainty, and the best way to insulate oneself from a fluid job market is to continually hone new skills.

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