Labor Day Lament

A truly lost holiday

This is supposed to be a day to show thanks, and admiration for the every day person. People that get up and go to work Monday through Friday, to earn a living.

We should celebrate the time and dedication that most people put in to their profession. People put in more time at work than they do at home if they work the standard 40 hour week.

But is somone's profession by choice or a profession of desperation? I know that when I was growing up, I didn't think I would be a paper pusher. It's not exactly a position that is very prestigious.

When I started my family, I was thankful for my job, but it was never my goal. I wanted to be an artist or someone who worked in the woodlands of the United States.

Before I knew it, I was in my mid 40's with three beautiful girls and a lovely wife. But was I ever happy with my career? No. I have been at my job for 16 years because my job provides healthcare and a slightly higher salary than flipping burgers.

According to the World Happiness Report, the US ranks 24th. For a country that has all the advantages of trade, fresh water, beautiful travel destinations, and the best medical research in the world to only be 24th is pathetic.

Now I am just speculating here, but I am sure our happiness ranking is much lower now. Thanks to Donald Trump, millions are now losing medical coverage (Medicaid cuts), our beautiful natural travel destinations (EPA cuts), and our clean water (EPA cuts).

Did I mention vaccination access? (CDC cuts) More people will be sick because Leatherface is in charge of the CDC now.

As a current union member, I used to pay only co-pays for my health insurance. Prior to my employment at this particular job, they didn’t even pay co-pays. I also had better quality health coverage prior to my union's failure to protect our benefits. I now pay much more in co-pays than I used to.

I don’t blame the people in charge of my union. The reputation of unions has been dragged through the mud over the years. Popular opinion has been driven by propaganda around labor unions which have been trashed for years. Being called a lazy worker and being questioned about my worth as an employee has no real truth. Unfortunately that lazy worker sentiment has become very pervasive over the years. It's part of the public consciousness these days.

Additionally, both sides of the political spectrum have shown disdain for unions. Particularly if it drives votes.

I now make only one hundred dollars more per month than someone would make on full unemployment. I have worked at this job for over sixteen years.

Of course I am not happy; I no longer pay just co-pays. I pay hundreds of dollars per month to cover my family’s healthcare.

This also includes co-pays for doctor’s visits and medication as well. My family has quite a few visits to the doctor and quite a few prescriptions to cover.

In the meantime, places like Finland (#1 in world happiness) pay barely anything to cover their healthcare costs. There seems to be a correlation there.

This country could make healthcare affordable. Even if these corporations didn’t want to do it for free, they could, but at least they could make it economically viable. The greed of these corporations and these people in charge is so criminal and cruel that it leaves me with few words.

So the question is, am I celebrating Labor Day? The answer is no. I will not celebrate the destruction of the workforce. Be it the migrant worker being chased by ICE or the corporate person that just got canned for cost savings in order to give stock buybacks.

Our workforce is broken and needs to be reimagined, just like our government. Rights for workers, as well as their income have to be reevaluated. People are surviving essentially on minimum wage.

My employer pays me too much to get assistance but too little to really get by.

I have no savings to speak of. If I were to miss one paycheck, it would mean a complete catastrophe. And let's not forget that I have no retirement funds to speak of. So essentially I will never get to retire.

I hope I am not coming off as a complainer. I guess I would just say that my family is another victim of corporate greed.

I also know that there are people that have it MUCH worse than me. I just thought that I would share a little bit about my life in the labor force. It seemed to be the right day to do it since today is Labor Day.

Nothing about today, in my humble opinion is worth celebrating. When this ship finally gets turned up right and after this tyrannical government gets fixed, the worker must be better taken care of.

I truly hope one day, maybe while I am still around, that I will have a good reason to celebrate the first Monday in September.

Love you all,

Erik

PS. Here is a link to the World Happiness Report