LABOR DAY TRIBUTE TO MY GRANDFATHER

In honor of Labor Day, I decided to post this photo of my maternal grandfather, Thomas Kelley, who appears with facial wounds he received from a beating he took from company thugs while organizing for a union at a Flint, Mich., automaker in 1936. My grandfather, a toolmaker, took part in the historic sit down strikes over unfair wages and unsafe working conditions. After more than forty days of striking amid violent reprisals from police and company hired ‘goons’, the workers won these concessions and subsequently, the United Auto Workers was formed. My grandfather was a charter member. Many of the things my grandfather fought for are now benefits workers take for granted.

While much maligned during the last 40 years, labor unions have always been at the forefront of fighting for social justice in America and Labor Day is a time to honor the blood and sacrifice that has gone into the labor movement’s early days. And while working conditions are not as harsh as they were during my Grandfather’s time, the need for a labor movement has again become increasingly necessary.