The photo is by a Lukens photographer of my dad on the ladder to his crane at the Byproducts building in Lukens Steel Company. The occasion was his 50 years of service at Lukens Steel.
When he spoke about his early days at Lukens Steel Company it was almost like a veteran reliving combat. He talked about the 70 hour work week 12 hours Monday to Friday and 10 on Saturday. But when he talked about "working an extra" even 57 years later the pain was still there.
You see "working an extra" in those days meant working a 12 hour day, an hour for dinner and then another 10 hours and then an hour break and another regular 12 hour day. That's 34 hours in a row and there was no time and a half pay. Sometimes he worked two 34 hour stretches a week.
Unions and President Roosevelt's new deal changed that. Most of us expect a 40 hour work week. But maybe you noticed that is beginning to change and 60 hours a week is the minimum that’s expected for some jobs.
The Ultra-conservative wing of the Republican Party has waged a war against unions and Roosevelt's New Deal legislation has been going on mostly without much notice for about 60 years. But now the truly lunatic conservatives have overrun the GOP. It's crystal clear that Wisconsin's Governor Scott Walker and Governor Kasish in Ohio efforts are the opening salvos of an all out Republican war to destroy unions and make people who work for a paycheck the virtual slaves of corporations.
NY Times:
We Work Hard, but Who’s Complaining?
By NATASHA VARGAS-COOPER
Published: April 2, 2011
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