Via: The Atlantic
So today is Labour Day here in the States which basically is a day off in honour of the working man. As a working man myself, I sure do appreciate it. However, it would seem that the symbolism is much more than that, with a heavy attachment to labour unions mentioned juts about everywhere.
Digging up a post by Richard O’Connor from a while ago in my mind, I was reminded of this quote from a 1945 issue of The Top Cel, the union newsletter for those on the east coast:
Why A Union
Fundamentally, a union is simply a device for raising the individual employee to a somewhat more comparable bargaining level in relation to his economically superior employer.Can we visualize any single employee to a somewhat more comparable bargaining level in relation to his economically superior employer.
Can we visualize any single employee, without a union, striding boldly into Mr. Terry’s or Mr. Buchwald’s office, for example, and demanding an increase in pay from $15 to $26?
But, those same individual employees, when standing together as a union, can get all of those things and more, as we did thru our union last year and can continue to do in the future if we broaden our understanding of the immense power we have as a union and learn to use it.
It is somewhat unfortunate that such a disparity existed (and still exists today) between management and employees. Each is mutually beneficial to the other and it makes no sense to have one lord it over the other.
A co-worker of mine put it best however:
If a company treats its workers right then there’s no need for a union.
He’s right too. Studios should realise that they can gain much from treating workers with the respect they deserve. Some of the stories relayed over on The Animation Guild’s blog make for sorry reading about the state of management in some studios.
Just a few thoughts for the day that’s in it.