To honor Labor Day, protect laborers

On Labor Day a guest column by Rod Blum appeared in The Gazette. He said little about what Labor Day truly stands for - who created, fought, bled and yes even died to have this National Holiday for ALL working people. I will tell you though: Union members.

I am upset that Representative Blum uses Labor Day as an opportunity to push his platform. I do agree with Blum when he states wages need to be raised, but I am bothered by the fact that he has openly opposed raising the minimum wage. So I ask, 'Do you want wages raised for working families or not, Representative Blum?

He would have us believe he stands with working people, but he voted to cut Social Security, a program that from its inception has helped working people survive after their work careers are over. We need Social Security due to the fact that so many are underpaid without pensions because they do not have a collective bargaining agreement and corporate greed is rampant.

It is reported that under Rod Blum's leadership as CEO, Eagle Point laid off 72 workers and paid $235,000 to employees after they filed a complaint stating they were not paid adequate overtime. It is reported he received a severance package of over $500,000 when he left. How much severance, if any, were those 72 workers paid?

Representative Blum's fear of our society devaluing work is a legitimate one, but may be looked at through the wrong lens. When you have a system in place that makes it possible for corporations to make record profits while wages remain stagnant for decades, even though productivity has never been higher, and where benefits are stripped from workers while Fortune 500 CEOS make 373 times more than workers, I say the worker has been devalued.

You can give corporations lower tax rates, Representative Blum, as you suggest, but history tells us that does not work. Trickle-down economics does not work for the working class. When the rich receive tax breaks they seldom pass that along to the employee or the consumer.

The ability for workers to organize, go to the table and negotiate with their employers on wages and benefits is being attacked. Workers without a collective bargaining agreement do not have a voice. Where are you at on making collective bargaining easier, Representative Blum?

If Representative Blum truly wants to help American Workers than he needs to prove it. Vote to raise the minimum wage. Make it easier for workers to have a voice at the bargaining table and vote against bad trade deals that only make the very rich even richer.

Support Social Security, don't talk about how you believe in it and then vote to slash it through the Republican Study Committee budget. If you are here to serve us as you state, then show us please.

Look at things through the eyes of our workers, not politicians.

' Rick Moyle is executive director of the Hawkeye Labor Council AFL-CIO. Comments: rmoyle@hawkeyelabor.us