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<\/a><\/div>\nPeople tend to be a little flip about the importance of unions every Labor Day. \u00a0I\u2019ve already seen on facebook post by a friend saying \u201cHappy Labor Day! \u00a0Celebrate with appropriate laziness!\u201d \u00a0And\u00a0sarcasm\u00a0or\u00a0condescension (\u201cThe unions used to be necessary, but we\u2019re past that now\u201d) is often the best the labor movement can hope for. \u00a0More often the reaction on the right is rage against the \u201cjob-killing unions.\u201d<\/p>\n
In fact, one of the best things you can say about the labor movement is that it has<\/em>\u00a0killed jobs. \u00a0Plenty of American manufactures have moved overseas because it would be illegal <\/em>to treat American workers the way they treat their laborers abroad. \u00a0Child labor, dangerous working conditions, and wage slavery are all common abroad in American-owned countries; it\u2019s absurd to claim that, absent the rabble-rousing labor movement, there would be no pressure to backslide on workers rights. \u00a0Unions hold the line at home and the international workers movement tries to expand protections abroad.<\/p>\n So, on Labor Day, there are plenty of classic union songs to post, and if you don\u2019t know \u201c16 Tons<\/a>,\u201d \u201cWhich Side Are You On?<\/a>\u201d \u201cSolidarity Forever<\/a>,\u201d or \u201cUnion Maid<\/a>\u201d by all means follow the hyperlinks. \u00a0The one I want to feature today is by Peggy Seeger, the younger sister of Pete Seeger, who is featured in several of the links above and who sings her composition below.<\/p>\n