'Labor creates all wealth'

By MARSHALL WARD

On September 5, 1882, more than 10,000 Central Labor Union members marched by City Hall, Union Square, and Uptown in New York City, chanting and carrying signs demanding “Eight Hours of Work, Eight Hours of Rest, Eight Hours of Recreation” and declaring “Labor Creates All Wealth.”

Finally, after many states recognized this celebration of Labor, President Grover Cleveland declared this a national holiday on June 28, 1894. Ironically, President Cleveland was not a friend of labor. He had ordered 12,000 federal troops for the brutal suppression of the famous Pullman railcar worker’s strike in 1892.

Labor Day celebrates the dignity of work, so let’s take a moment and thank labor unions and the Democratic party for securing these rights many take for granted:

-- Weekends off and shorter work weeks

-- Paid vacations for rest, relaxation, and time with the family

-- Family and Medical Leave Act to take 12 weeks of job protected leave for family and medical reasons

-- Breaks at work, including lunch, which improves safety and productivity

-- Paid sick leave which give the worker time to recover from illnesses/accidents

-- Paid holidays including 9 holidays offered by most employers in the U.S.

-- Military leave, which allows those serving their country to keep civilian employment and benefits

-- 40-hour work week and 8-hour day, which has become standard. U.S workers used to average over 60 hours a week.

Recent actions in Washington and Frankfort have been a frontal attack on workers. (No debate, no expert testimony, secret meetings, executive orders).

Whether it is “right to work (for less),” “reforms of public pensions or worker’s compensation,” or “prevailing wage reforms,” the conservative-packed courts and the Republican party have freely cut taxes for themselves and their wealthy campaign donors during an era of record corporate profits.

And deregulation of Wall Street, busting unions, refusing to raise the minimum wage across the U.S., have had a destructive impact on the working class.

Is this how we reward our workers for creating all that wealth?

Real hourly pay for most workers remains flat. There isn’t an investment boom to build factories and research and development expansion. Huge new deficits ($1.5 – 2 trillion) created by irresponsible federal and state tax cuts for the rich by Republicans and rising inflation will also hurt the worker long term.

The windfall money that corporations are making with these huge tax cuts is being used to buy back stock shares to benefit the wealthiest 10 percent of households.

Last week, President Trump announced the freezing of federal worker’s pay. What many don’t know is that 1/3 of all federal workers are veterans. This is to save $25 billion, while talking more tax cuts for the wealthy?

Additionally, Trump tariffs have called into question the future of many Kentucky farming families.

Also, about 40 percent of American families struggled to pay for food, health care, housing, and/or utilities in 2017-18.

Out of their playbook, Republicans have pushed for massive tax cuts to justify massive cuts in the safety net to “starve the beast” -- an attack on the Democrats' New Deal and Great Society contrary to our common good.

The targets are Democratic Party-supported Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. There are many Americans who are retired working class men and women who have only a Social Security check and Medicare.

This year Republicans gave a $300 million tax cut to corporations doing business in Kentucky.

As a result, 1.4 million Kentuckians are facing possible cuts in Medicaid because Gov. Bevin has announced about a $372 million shortfall. This is straight out of the Republican playbook.

Additionally, to help cover those tax cuts for the wealthy, Kentucky Republicans placed taxes on 40 services which hurt the worker.

Kentucky Democratic lawmakers are pushing for legislation to give workers more rights. They will pre-file bills to:

-- Repeal RTW

-- Reinstate the prevailing wage for public works, such as for roads, bridges, schools, and courthouses

-- Repeal House Bill 2, which hurt coal miners with black lung and workers with chronic job-related illnesses

-- Reinstate the Occupational Safety and Health Board.

How can you help workers this fall?

Elect Democratic candidates who will protect working people.

Elections have consequences.