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BMWED President's Labor Day Message 2021

Published: Sep 3 2021 11:07AM

As the world continues to wrestle with a pandemic that frustratingly lingers, and everyone assesses what has – indisputably – been a tough 18 months since it began, we can take some solace this Labor Day in the fact that there appears to be a new appreciation for workers.

A Gallup poll this week has Union favorability at 68 percent, its highest since 1965. One especially encouraging sign is young adults – those aged 18 through 35 – have a 77 percent approval rating of Organized Labor.

This is a real opportunity. It’s no secret that it is tough out there. It has been increasingly harder to make a living in this country for decades now. A lot of the gains Labor achieved in its heyday have been eroded by Reaganomics, anti-union sentiment and legislation (like “right-to-work”) and a gradual decline in civic engagement. 

On that latter point, we should take time this Labor Day to measure how we can bring collectiveness back to prominence. “Individual liberty” has replaced the “united front” mindset that carried us through WW2 and beyond. Society membership in civic clubs, church, volunteer organizations, and yes, Unions, has been on a persistent decline.

To reverse these trends will take forward thinking. Unions cannot rely on past strategies. We need new ideas, updated structures, a desire to be innovative and bold.

I hope, as I near retirement, that the future of the BMWED and all Unions nationwide can capitalize on a groundswell of support from today’s younger Americans. I believe there is a great need for them going forward, buoyed by increasing public support, to continue to lift workers into financial stability.

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Happy Labor Day, Brothers and Sisters,

Freddie N. Simpson
President