Thank Goodness It's Monday #424

“MOST PEOPLE LIKE HARD WORK.

PARTICULARLY WHEN THEY’RE PAYING FOR IT.”

That quip concisely sums up one of the persistent dilemmas of the modern age. It originated with reporter, public relations executive and humorist Franklin P. Jones (1908 - 1980).

And it’s one of the real reasons underlying the establishment of, and ongoing need for, observing Labor Day, isn’t it?

Not to be overly analytical about it, but … 

As analysis originator Sigmund Freud saw it: 

“No other technique for the conduct of life attaches the individual to reality as laying emphasis on work: for his work at least gives him a secure place in a portion of reality, in the human community.”

So as I see it, these two divergent realities create a bit of conflict, especially in the world of “modern” capitalism that began to flourish in the middle of the 19^th Century.

To oversimplify --

• The holders of “capital” want the most work for the least expense.
• Workers must work, but capitalist demands of “too much for too little” destroy any sense of humanity and community.

Thus working people are sometimes forced to organize themselves and their work lives in ways that they perceive are more beneficial for their “conduct of life”.

 

And that inevitably leads us to –

Jersey Shore Boy

(born in Cape May NJ)

Uriah S. Stephens (1821-1882)

First leader of the

Noble Order of the Knights of Labor 

Labor Day. It’s generally accepted that the first major Labor Day observance in the United States was September 5, 1882, by the Central Labor Union of New York (a branch of the Noble Order of the Knights of Labor, a secretive labor union founded in 1869 by a clique of Philadelphia tailors.

Their initiation oath -- “We mean to uphold the dignity of labor” – certainly anticipates Freud’s insight:

 

Labor Day became a Federal holiday in 1894.

 

And it was a Jersey Boy (like me) – born-in-Caldwell, NJ (1837) President Grover Cleveland – who, in 1894, signed the legislation that made Labor Day a federal holiday.

 

Not to “belabor” the point (yes, an intentional pun; I was “working” up to it), and before we get to a Labor Day 2013 TGIM Takeaway or two, here’s a quick look back at what moved Grover to act:

 

Following the deaths of a number of workers at the hands of the U.S. military and U.S. Marshals during the Pullman Strike in the summer of 1894, legislation making Labor Day a national holiday was rushed through Congress unanimously and signed into law.

 

Cleveland and other politicians put reconciliation with the labor movement as a top political priority. The September date was originally chosen by the CLU of New York.

Unlike more strident May Day Socialist/Communist “Labour” observances around the world on May 1, the form for the September celebration of Labor Day in the US was outlined in the first proposal of the holiday: A street parade to exhibit to the public "the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations," followed by a festival for the workers and their families.

 

And now, we all celebrate.

 

No matter if you describe your “collar” color as white or blue.  No matter if you are part of an organized labor group or not. Labor Day marks the traditional “end of summer” … back-to-school signal … beginning of football/NASCAR/ season.

TGIM TAKEAWAY: While these days we seldom relate to fairly valuing the sort of “sweat of your brow” physical effort that labor organizing in the 19^th Century was about, we still have strong views on the value of the individual’s contribution to the world of commerce and the disparity between wealth classes, real or imagined, in our democracy and around the world.

Assuming this is a day you have the good fortune to be able to celebrate, sometime between checking out your local Labor Day parade or similar civic celebration and the last official beer and burger before someone winterizes that pool, appreciate what we all have gained since the first Labor Day largely as a result of the protests and efforts of workers of the world uniting.

 

Here’s a thumbnail roundup:

• Child-labor laws
• The 8-hour day/40-hour week
• Requisite time off or compensation
• Public education
• Minimum wages & other compensatory assurances
• Occupational safety & health protections
• Medical benefits
• Birth & dependent care allowances
• Unemployment safety nets
• Social Security
• Name your own favorite (Equal Pay Act, Civil Rights Act, National Labor Relations Act, ERISA pension standards, all have a foothold in what can be viewed as the labor movement.)

LABOR DAY 2013 ACTION IDEA: This Labor Day let us remember the sacrifices endured, and the challenges faced, by organizing and organized workers. Collar color notwithstanding, let’s acknowledge our indebtedness to this group of people who have played a significant role in making the American workplace what it is today and who strive to extend that success.

 

LABOR DAY 2013 IDEA IN ACTION: In the spirit of Labor Day, rather than looking for scapegoats to blame for some of the world’s most profound economic problems, let’s resolve, starting tomorrow, to insist our politicians work on – not just blather about -- getting people back to work in a way and at a wage that gives them “a secure place in a portion of reality, in the human community.” 

“Uphold the dignity of labor.” Real working people know the most straightforward way to get our economy moving as it should and to keep it moving forward is to put more money back in the hands of working families, who will in turn spend their money locally.

 

Be bold! Speak up. Act on your ideals.

“A government for the people must depend for its success on the intelligence, the morality, the justice, and the interest of the people themselves.” Grover Cleveland said that.

Important note in closing: Many parts of our Jersey Shore and other vacation-centric communities that were hard hit by SuperStorm Sandy last fall are planning on extending their “season” beyond Labor Day to make up for lost business.

Please get out and support them if you’re able.

 

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373

tgimguy@gmail.com 

P.S.  “A man’s work is his dilemma; his job is his bondage, but it also gives him a fair share of his identity and keeps him from being a bystander in somebody else’s world.” Journalist and essayist Melvin Maddocks (1924 – 2008) made that appropriate-to-the-day observation.

Thank Goodness It's Monday #372

THE LEGEND OF JOHN HENRY

MEETS LABOR DAY 2012

Few of us “labor” like the steel-drivin’ man of folklore and folksongs is said to have labored.

Hey, it’s the 21^st Century. We’ve got remote-controlled vehicles cruising around the planet Mars laser-blasting rocks, analyzing their composition and sending that data across millions of miles of space. 

 

So the idea of Man vs. Steam Drill is pretty archaic.

Or is it? Writing in Yes! Magazine, Michael Schwalbe observes -- 

“Every year, thousands of men in the United States die like John Henry, albeit with less drama. They quietly work themselves to exhaustion, bad health, and premature death. Or they take risks and suffer fatal workplace injuries. Women workers die, too, of course, sometimes in exactly the same ways.”

What do you think? Before you answer, let’s review the classic version of the John Henry tale: 

Folksong John is a black man of exceptional physical gifts, a former slave who, to save his job and the jobs of his mostly black steel-driving crew, refuses to bow to the superiority of a machine. He races the steam-driven drill and wins, though the effort kills him which, in some versions, leaves his wife a widow and their small children fatherless.

There seem to be historical roots to elements of the story, but nothing very solid. One research I particularly favor argues that John William Henry (prisoner #497 in the Virginia penitentiary, released by the warden to work on the C&O Railway in the 1870s) is the basis for the legendary John Henry.

The Labor Day connection: Because of his strength and pride, John Henry is usually celebrated as a working-class hero. 

He’s also sometimes derided as an exploitive capitalist’s dream: a worker who devotes his last ounce of energy to generating profit and then conveniently dies just when a cheaper technology becomes available to replace him.

Either way, I think there are 21^st Century TGIM lessons suitable for a Labor Day post.

In today’s still-striving-for-equality workplace, we can interpret the extraordinary efforts of John Henry in a race neutral, genderless way … across almost all strata of class -- working-, middle- , upper-middle … and “work” – blue- and white-collar … and industry – service, manufacture, construction, retail, what have you. 

And that opens the door for this -- 

TGIM TAKEAWAY: The emphasis on being competitive has many of us “laboring” in the workplace and the marketplace just like we imagine John Henry labored, even if it’s to our own detriment. 

·         We behave as if working long hours is noble.

·         We strive mightily to outdo “the competition.”

·         We compete for advancement.

·         We risk our long-term wellbeing and keep plugging away despite pain or sickness.

·         We forgo safe and sensible measures that we suspect might slow our progress.

·         We put work first even when it threatens other interpersonal relationships and family.

Not good, right? Hey, it’s the behavior that kills John Henry. And that’s not an end result we want to strive for, is it? 

Not me. So consider this in-the-spirit-of-Labor Day –

TGIM ACTION IDEA: Labor not to beat the system or gain status, power or domination over others, but to realize rewards that you can enjoy without sacrificing being human. Channel your enthusiasm for an effort well made into a mindset that serves your needs, not one that makes you the servant. Don’t be blind to the toll your work places on you personally as well as those who surround you. 

And now for a –

Big Surprise. I’m going to suggest that the folklore/folksong legend of John Henry that I’ve put forward as a cautionary tale also contains often-overlooked, good-then and good-now strategies for successfully coping with pressures of a system that “beat John Henry down.” 

You see --

The story itself is NOT the triumph of “the Everyman” over the system. John Henry dies; that’s not good. You know the steam drill is destined to replace the steel drivers. 

But the John Henry secret of workplace survival is today’s --

TGIM IDEA IN ACTION: Success is in the tempo at which everyone sings together. 

These days the song is treated as a up tempo blues ballad or dance tune and played at a frenetic pace that suggests folkloric roots as a jig or a reel. But it’s pretty clear that at its roots --

John Henry is a work song. Its pattern tells you gangs of workers sang it on the job to help keep the rhythm and pace suitable for the work they were doing. (Or that the words were plugged into a commonly known chant pattern used to synchronize action as well as provide some “uplift” on the job.)

Do it at the right pace and in unison and the song tells you what to do and how to survive even when “the Boss Man” is hard on you.

Try it. Imagine you’re swingin’ that hammer, then sing, slow and steady and with feeling – 

When John Henry was a little baby (Clink!)

Sittin’ on his Pappy’s knee (Clink!)

Picked up a hammer and a little piece of steel (Clink!)

Said this hammer’s gonna be the death of me, Lawd Lawd (=Clink!)

This hammer’s gonna be the death of me (Clink!)

More proof: In Steel Drivin' Man: John Henry, the Untold Story of an American Legend, Scott Reynolds Nelson, the associate professor of history at the College of William and Mary who made the prison labor gang/C&O Railway connection, points out that --

...workers managed their labor by setting a "stint," or pace, for it. Men who violated the stint were shunned... Here was a song that told you what happened to men who worked too fast: they died ugly deaths; their entrails fell on the ground. You sang the song slowly, you worked slowly, you guarded your life, or you died.

Labor Day “Aha!” moment. Live your workday at a proper steel-drivin’ pace. Hammer away, but hammer away with others at a tempo that enables you all to go the distance and accomplish the greater result with greater ease. 

Get in tune. Assuming this is a Labor Day you have the good fortune to be able to celebrate, sometime between checking out your local parade or similar civic celebration and the last official beer and burger before the pool is winterized, appreciate what we all have gained since the first Labor Day.

Don’t let ‘em beat you down. “A man ain’t nothin’ but a man.” Success is in how everyone sings together. 

Geoff Steck   
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373
tgimguy@gmail.com

P. S.  And speaking of labor, and taking a break to celebrate it, even the ancient Greeks and Romans understood the concepts. They tell us: 

“Without labor nothing prospers.”  Sophocles (c. 497/6 BC – 406/5 BC) said that.

“The end of labor is to gain leisure.” Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) said that.

“Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.” Ovid (43 BC – AD 17/18) said that.