It’s Worker Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024.

This Monday is Labor Day, but only in the US and Canada (where it’s Labour Day). And, since this is the Worker’s Almanac, it’s more than a day off for us!

Most other countries celebrate International Workers’ Day, or May Day, on May 1 annually, but here it’s been the first Monday in September since President Grover Cleveland signed it into law in 1894.

Apparently, the date change was because Cleveland didn’t like its socialist origins. But there was also the matter of the Haymarket “Riot” of May 4, 1886, which the US didn’t want to be seen as commemorating.

Why not, you might ask?

It began with Chicago Police shooting and killing several striking workers on May 3;
which led to a protest the next day, where a mysterious bomb was lobbed at police, killing eight;
and ended with a sham trial and the death penalty for seven men who were there that day, despite no evidence connecting them to the bombing.

But this Labor Day, a reader suggested I highlight some positive labor history instead!

“I’m weary of sending notes each year regarding lack of mention of Frances Perkins in the Labor Day stories by the Associated Press, Gannett, and others who dutifully recognize Labor Day with stories about all the great events involving men in the history of the labor/union movements,” Herb S. of Urbandale wrote to me in September of last year. “In recent years, I have not seen any mention of Frances Perkins in those stories and I complain about that to no avail.”

Happy to help change this, Herb!

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Wagner Unemployment Bill at the White House in Washington, DC, on June 6, 1933. Standing behind him, from left, are: Rep. Theodore A. Peyser, D-N.Y., Labor Secretary Frances Perkins, and Sen. Robert Wagner, D-N.Y. (AP Photo, File)

Known as “the woman behind the New Deal,” Perkins learned about the horrific working conditions of the country’s textile mills while she was in college, then worked to help the poor, unemployed, and immigrants in the early 1900s.

But it was Perkins personally witnessing the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire—which caused the deaths of 146 women and girls who had been locked inside by their boss—that galvanized her activism.

Her tireless advocacy for the passage of worker safety and health laws in New York, where the fire happened, led to her becoming the first female Secretary of Labor in President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration. Once there, she was involved in the creation and advocacy of several New Deal-era laws, including the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Civilian Conservations Corps, and the Social Security Act. Perkins died in 1965 at the age of 85.

Got a labor story for me to highlight? Email me anytime.

Amie Rivers

Community Editor, Iowa Starting Line

Email me

Working class news you can use:

New website helps find child care in Iowa: Iowa Child Care Connect, which was just announced by the state last week, hopes to help pair desperate parents with one of more than 1,000 child care centers or home-based providers across the state. The website fulfills a recommendation from the governor’s 2021 child care task force.
Recertification elections coming up: Public workers represented by labor unions in Iowa, including teachers, will vote to recertify their union representations in mid-October, just as they do every year since Iowa Republicans forced them to hold annual elections starting in 2017. (Yet, every year, workers overwhelmingly choose to remain unionized.)
New training center for advanced manufacturing: The Quad Cities Manufacturing Institute is a new partnership between Iowa State University, Western Illinois University, and the University of Illinois to expand manufacturing research and workforce training in southeast Iowa and western Illinois. The colleges announced the partnership last week.
Duluth Trading Company in Dubuque is closing its satellite distribution center there and laying off 74 workers by Oct. 27, according to Iowa’s WARN Act website. The warehouse opened just five years ago.
Credit card debt is still on the rise, jumping 5.8% from this time last year to $1.14 trillion among Americans. And it’s probably no surprise that those who earn the least are hit the hardest by those 20-30% interest rates.
Must have gotten lost in the mail: The US Postal Service has announced a proposal to save $3 billion each year, but it would mean local mail could take up to three days and domestic mail could take up to five days to reach you. The proposal will be discussed Sept. 5 and wouldn’t be rolled out until next year.
A rail strike looms in Canada: After around 10,000 Teamsters rail workers threatened to strike last week, and Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) railroads locked them out, the Canadian government has ordered the companies and the workers to binding arbitration to sort it out.
Noncompete ban thrown out: A Texas judge just said the FTC lacked “substantive rulemaking authority with respect to unfair methods of competition” when it proposed a rule banning noncompete agreements in workplaces, set to go into effect next month. The agreements would have released around 30 million Americans from rules on what kind of work they can do after leaving a job. The FTC said it was “seriously considering” appealing the decision.
Voting on a union:
– 33 drivers and other workers at Iowa Beverage Systems in Des Moines voted successfully to unionize with Teamsters Local 90. The vote was 21 votes for, 10 against, and two not voting (counted as “no” votes).
– 140 electricians, welders, pipe fitters, and more at Quaker Manufacturing in Cedar Rapids voted last week on whether to unionize with one of several unions or joint unions; a vote tally is not yet public.
– 31 nurses, aides, cooks, and other workers at Aspire of Donnellson in Donnellson petitioned Aug. 20 to unionize with IAM Lodge 6.
Iowa layoffs coming up:
– John Deere Davenport Works is laying off 211 workers by Friday.
– John Deere Dubuque Works is laying off 99 workers by Friday.
– Smithfield Packaged Meats in Altoona is closing and laying off 319 workers by Friday. Read more about that here.
– Danfoss Power Solutions in Ames is laying off 40 workers by Saturday.
– Amcor in Des Moines is laying off nine workers by Sunday.
– Winnebago Industries in Charles City is closing (the smaller of its two locations there) and laying off 36 workers by Sunday. Read more about that here.
– Wells Fargo in West Des Moines is laying off 24 workers by Sept. 11, 12 workers by Sept. 23, three workers by Oct. 6, and 16 workers by Oct. 20.
– John Deere Waterloo Works is laying off 191 workers at its East Donald Street site, 89 workers at its Commercial Street site, and 65 workers at its West Ridgeway Avenue site, all by Sept. 20.
– Tyson Foods in Perry is still closing up shop: The remaining five workers will be laid off by Sept. 28.

Before you punch out 🤑

“You’re Probably Getting Screwed” is a Substack column jointly written by JD Scholten and Justin Stofferahn that broadly talks about monopolies, unchecked capitalism, and the resulting ways they makes everything worse (and more expensive).

This week’s topic was an especially good one: Stock buybacks, which are basically ways for a company’s executives to put more of the money workers produce back into their own pockets, instead of going toward wages, benefits, or even investing in their own company. Trickle down? More like sucking up!

The worst part: Those buybacks, also called repurchases, are expected to exceed $1 trillion by 2025.

(Send me your book/movie/article suggestions here.)