Happy Workers’ Day, Canada! (1 Viewer)

[Juks]

Today is Workers' Day! Across Europe, people are taking to the streets to demand fair treatment, better wages, and respect for workers' rights. In many countries, like Sweden, it’s a public holiday.

Ironically, this day has its roots in the United States.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_affair

Yet, the US has distanced itself from this history. Rather than honoring the workers who were killed and later executed after the Haymarket protests in 1886, the US moved its official Labor Day to September. Canada followed suit, likely to align with its neighbor.

Maybe it’s time to rethink that choice? To reconnect with the global labor movement and give proper recognition to those who fought and died for the rights many of us take for granted today.

Happy workers day Canada!

 

[MamboDervish]

Today is Workers' Day! Across Europe, people are taking to the streets to demand fair treatment, better wages, and respect for workers' rights. In many countries, like Sweden, it’s a public holiday.

Ironically, this day has its roots in the United States.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_affair

Americans seem to have chosen to forget what hard fought rights were won by organized labor.
We're not very good at remembering history .... not even our own.

Yet, the US has distanced itself from this history. Rather than honoring the workers who were killed and later executed after the Haymarket protests in 1886, the US moved its official Labor Day to September. Canada followed suit, likely to align with its neighbor.

Maybe it’s time to rethink that choice? To reconnect with the global labor movement and give proper recognition to those who fought and died for the rights many of us take for granted today.

Happy workers day Canada!

Happy May Day !

 

[Bergslagstroll]

Unions is needed for good working conditions and salaries. There countries with strong unions like for example the Nordic countries also have good conditions for businesses and innovation.

Best Countries for Business

Forbes ranks The Best Countries for Business.

www.forbes.com

What it's like to live in the world's most innovative countries

The BBC speaks to residents and travellers in some of the top-ranked countries on the 2024 Global Innovation Index to find out how cutting-edge technology benefits day-to-day life.

www.bbc.com

While the rise of MAGA and other far right movements shows the danger of rising inequality and the decline of unions and other grassroot organizations. With enormously powerful oligarchs turning people's anger and frustration towards immigrants and minorities. So that the oligarchs can continue to benefit from neoliberal policies and at the same dismantle democracy

Neoliberalism – the ideology at the root of all our problems

Financial meltdown, environmental disaster and even the rise of Donald Trump – neoliberalism has played its part in them all. Why has the left failed to come up with an alternative?

www.theguardian.com

 

[Allan]

Unions is needed for good working conditions and salaries. There countries with strong unions like for example the Nordic countries also have good conditions for businesses and innovation.

Best Countries for Business

Forbes ranks The Best Countries for Business.

www.forbes.com

What it's like to live in the world's most innovative countries

The BBC speaks to residents and travellers in some of the top-ranked countries on the 2024 Global Innovation Index to find out how cutting-edge technology benefits day-to-day life.

www.bbc.com

While the rise of MAGA and other far right movements shows the danger of rising inequality and the decline of unions and other grassroot organizations. With enormously powerful oligarchs turning people's anger and frustration towards immigrants and minorities. So that the oligarchs can continue to benefit from neoliberal policies and at the same dismantle democracy

Neoliberalism – the ideology at the root of all our problems

Financial meltdown, environmental disaster and even the rise of Donald Trump – neoliberalism has played its part in them all. Why has the left failed to come up with an alternative?

www.theguardian.com

The US is conspicuously absent from the top 10 countries for business Forbes list.

 

[Loulit01]

 

[aociswundumho]

Rather than honoring the workers who were killed and later executed after the Haymarket protests in 1886,

The deaths and violence were caused by the union scumbags who were physically attacking non-union workers. That union, the "knights of labor" had to disband afterwards, because the public correctly viewed them as violent criminals.

 

[MamboDervish]

The deaths and violence were caused by the union scumbags who were physically attacking non-union workers. That union, the "knights of labor" had to disband afterwards, because the public correctly viewed them as violent criminals.

Your comments continue to inhabit the wrong side of history. Do better.

 

[Bergslagstroll]

The US is conspicuously absent from the top 10 countries for business Forbes list.

With things getting worse under Trump with tarrifs and attacks against education and science.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/12/trump-tariffs-on-china-mean-irreversible-damage-for-most-businesses.html

More than 1,900 scientists write letter in ‘SOS’ over Trump’s attacks on science

Members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine warned Americans of ‘real danger in this moment’

www.theguardian.com

While Trump's billionaire friends seems to only care about the massive tax cuts and favors they will get from Trump.

 

[Bergslagstroll]

The deaths and violence were caused by the union scumbags who were physically attacking non-union workers. That union, the "knights of labor" had to disband afterwards, because the public correctly viewed them as violent criminals.

Union members have faced a lot of persecution and violence in the US during the late 19:th and early 20:th century.

"In Lattimer, Pennsylvania, 300 to 400 striking coal miners march to demonstrate support of the UMWA. Police under the direction of Luzerne County Sheriff James F. Martin order demonstrators to disperse. The march continues, and the police open fire, killing 19 miners. It is known as the Lattimer Massacre...

The Colorado National Guard and guards from the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company attack a tent colony in Ludlow, Colorado housing 1,200 coal miners striking for union recognition. More than 20 people, including two women and 11 children, are killed in what would come to be known as "The Ludlow Massace.""

Labor Wars in the U.S. | American Experience | PBS

As the pace of industrialization quickened, and profits accumulated in the hands of a few, some workers began to organize and advocate for unionization. The workers wanted more safety regulations, better wages, fewer hours, and freedom of speech and assembly.

www.pbs.org

 

[Allan]

I was in management with a US Fortune 500 company for about 35 years.

I can say with complete confidence that corporations are indeed people. Psychotic people.

There are a few elements that contribute to workers having equal say in working conditions. Education plays a role by increasing their value to the company. A tight labour market can help. Labour legislation certainly helps.

But historically and today the biggest field leveler is collective bargaining and union representation for workers.

It decreases the possibility the company's managers will be abusive and adds professional and skilled guidance to the bargaining process.

We had both union and non union shops. Productivity between the two was similar.

 

[aociswundumho]

Your comments continue to inhabit the wrong side of history. Do better.

If I wrote anything that is untrue, quote the text and explain why it's false.

Union members have faced a lot of persecution and violence in the US during the late 19:th and early 20:th century.

No, they haven't been "persecuted". They physically attacked non-union workers, which makes them violent pieces of shit.

But historically and today the biggest field leveler is collective bargaining and union representation for workers.

If you don't like the pay or the working conditions, then quit.

 

[Allan]

If you don't like the pay or the working conditions, then quit.

People like you are the reason unions exist.

 

[Tigerace117]

The deaths and violence were caused by the union scumbags who were physically attacking non-union workers. That union, the "knights of labor" had to disband afterwards, because the public correctly viewed them as violent criminals.

CPD grabbed a bunch of people whose politics they didn’t like, instead of actually investigating and finding the real culprits.

After shooting each other and a bunch of civilians in a blind panic after the bomb went off.

The trial was neither “free nor fair”; the judge was openly hostile towards the defendants.

 

[Tigerace117]

If I wrote anything that is untrue, quote the text and explain why it's false.



No, they haven't been "persecuted". They physically attacked non-union workers, which makes them violent pieces of shit.



If you don't like the pay or the working conditions, then quit.

American business owners repeatedly employed death squads to attack and murder their workers for daring to stand up for themselves, so that is clearly not true. The persecution was both widespread and enthusiastic.

 

[Evilroddy]

Evilroddy

 

[Juks]

f I wrote anything that is untrue, quote the text and explain why it's false.

You're oversimplifying a complex event. The Haymarket rally was peaceful until an unknown person threw a bomb. No one knows who to this day. None of the executed men were proven guilty of that act, some was actually not even there. They were convicted for their ideas, not their actions.

More broadly, US labor history is shaped by repression. Unlike in Europe, American unions faced violent crackdowns, were undermined by racism and employer tactics, and lacked a strong political party to represent them. During the Cold War, many effective labor organizers were purged under anti-communist laws,regardless of their actual beliefs. Both major parties have historically demonized unions, portraying them as corrupt or un-American. This political climate eroded public support and weakened labor’s role. So yes, the labor movement has a dark and difficult history in the US,but not because of “union scumbags,” rather because those in power feared organized workers.

So what your first post tells me is that the indoctrination and demonization has worked. So here we are: European workers have around five weeks of paid vacation, partial income during sick leave, employer-funded pensions, and legal requirements to minimize workplace injury risks. And the US has... what, exactly? Our productivity is roughly the same, our companies are equally profitable ,so what's the excuse?


Labor Productivity: Sweden vs. the US

Sweden: According to OECD data from 2022, Sweden's GDP per hour worked was approximately $79.10.
(Sources: Wikipedia, World Population Review, OECD)
US: In the same year, the United States' GDP per hour worked was approximately $77.10.
(Source: World Population Review)

This means that Sweden had a slightly higher labor productivity per hour compared to the US in 2022.

 

[aociswundumho]

American business owners repeatedly employed death squads to attack and murder their workers for daring to stand up for themselves, so that is clearly not true.

Good grief.

1) They weren't "death squads", they were private security.

2) If you get fired, and refuse to leave company property, then yes, force will and should be used against you.

3) The deranged, violent union scum who assaulted the non-union workers and wouldn't leave company property were the true criminals.

 

[aociswundumho]

CPD grabbed a bunch of people whose politics they didn’t like, instead of actually investigating and finding the real culprits.

After shooting each other and a bunch of civilians in a blind panic after the bomb went off.

The trial was neither “free nor fair”; the judge was openly hostile towards the defendants.

That's all true, but we know the bomb (which killed a dozen people and injured about 50) was thrown by union scum. They just didn't know which piece of union scum did it.

 

[Tigerace117]

Good grief.

1) They weren't "death squads", they were private security.

2) If you get fired, and refuse to leave company property, then yes, force will and should be used against you.

3) The deranged, violent union scum who assaulted the non-union workers and wouldn't leave company property were the true criminals.

Who routinely acted as death squads, as the number of labor leaders who were outright murdered shows quite clearly.

If you expect people to risk their lives for you, and then brutally mistreat and abuse them, you don’t get to whine when they organize to try and gain a better life for themselves and their families.

The cops literally shot each other up, then arrested a bunch of people it’s never been even close to remotely proven were actually involved in the bombing, having them executed in a blatantly rigged trial.

 

[Tigerace117]

That's all true, but we know the bomb (which killed a dozen people and injured about 50) was thrown by union scum. They just didn't know which piece of union scum did it.

Except we don’t know that, because the cops never bothered actually trying to investigate.

 

[aociswundumho]

If you expect people to risk their lives for you, and then brutally mistreat and abuse them, you don’t get to whine when they organize to try and gain a better life for themselves and their families.

Again, if you get fired, and refuse to leave company property, then yes, force will and should be used against you. If you don't like the pay or the conditions, you quit. What you don't do is assault other non-union workers, because if you do, then you are the criminal, and should be treated as such.

 

[Tigerace117]

Again, if you get fired, and refuse to leave company property, then yes, force will and should be used against you. If you don't like the pay or the conditions, you quit. What you don't do is assault other non-union workers, because if you do, then you are the criminal, and should be treated as such.

Except for the inconvenient fact that the companies exploiting said workers made it impossible to get other work. That was the entire point of the “company towns”. They didn’t want people to be able to quit; they wanted to keep them locked in an endless cycle of debt and exploitation.

Gee, so then what are the “private security” thugs shooting civilians in the back? Because murder is significantly worse than “refusing to leave company property”, in case you hadn’t noticed.

 

[aociswundumho]

Except for the inconvenient fact that the companies exploiting said workers made it impossible to get other work.

Even if that were true (and it definitely is not true) it doesn't matter. Nobody owes you a job.

That was the entire point of the “company towns”.

The Haymarket incident happened in Chicago, not a company town.

Because murder is significantly worse than “refusing to leave company property”, in case you hadn’t noticed.

All of the violence was instigated by the union thugs. When you quit, or get fired, you leave. You don't assault other non-union workers.

 

[Tigerace117]

Even if that were true (and it definitely is not true) it doesn't matter. Nobody owes you a job.



The Haymarket incident happened in Chicago, not a company town.



All of the violence was instigated by the union thugs. When you quit, or get fired, you leave. You don't assault other non-union workers.

Uh....yes, it absolutely was true. Which is a big part of why people began organizing in the first place.

And the corruption and incompetence of the authorities was on full display through the incident....rather clearly proving the workers’ point.

The cops literally shot each other up and killed multiple civilians in the aftermath of the bombing going off. Claiming “all the violence was the fault of the union” ignores the fact no hard evidence was brought forward to prove they were actually responsible.

When your boss hires a death squad to murder people helping make your life less miserable, you aren’t actually obligated to just accept that, interestingly enough.

All that crying about “assault” and thugs putting bullets in people’s backs doesn’t seem to bother you one bit. Hmm....

 

[aociswundumho]

When your boss hires a death squad to murder people helping make your life less miserable, you aren’t actually obligated to just accept that, interestingly enough.

The company wouldn't have to hire private security if the workers who quit or got fired simply left the property.