Of loss and Labor day and cultural shifts
On Labor Day 2023, I’m thinking about the town of Canton, NC, just west of here. Their 100-plus year-old paper mill abruptly closed this year throwing over 1,000 workers out of their jobs. The mill was the town’s life’s blood. Now it’s gone. The city obtained the shift whistle from the mill as a reminder of the sounds that marked the days there for decades. People gathered downtown earlier this year to shed tears as the whistle blew for the last time.
“This is not just 1,300 jobs; this is our blue-collar identity,” said Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers.
Gov. Roy Cooper has pledged millions in support for the region’s displaced workers.
Canton was also one of the few outposts of labor unions in the region.
In March, Smathers told the Carolina Journal:
“We’ve had a death in the family,” he said. “I had a mill worker tell me that. That’s exactly what it is and exactly what it feels like. Like a death, you just experience the numbness and shock of a sudden loss and that’s what happened out of the blue. I had to call the governor’s office and let them know. It’s shameful that we had to find out through social media that the workers were losing their jobs. I saw workers coming in with tears in their eyes, and I am heartbroken. I hear stories of kids in the school system crying because they are going to have to move away from their friends so their parents can find jobs elsewhere. There’s just sadness and hurt.”
Zeb is a friend. He spoke at a small gathering this week about the meaning of home, the warm embrace of place, not just physically but in the heart. Even politically. The county may be red, but Zeb is a Democrat, and respected there.
Canton boasts the state’s oldest Labor Day celebration. Even amidst the economic struggles, people there plan to maintain their celebration and their spirit. They are down but not out.
E.J. Dionne writes this morning that what Joe Biden, the most pro-labor president in years, has done for workers this year is, as he might say, a BFD:
Consider that on Wednesday, Biden’s Labor Department proposed a rule that would make an estimated 3.6 million salaried workers eligible for overtime pay. The week before, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), transformed by Biden’s appointments, issued a decision that will boost union organizing after decades in which management held the upper hand.
When a majority of workers sign up for a union, employers can either begin bargaining with the new unit or agree to an election in which workers decide whether to unionize. Under the new rule, if an employer is deemed to have engaged in unfair labor practices during the run-up to the vote, the NLRB will order the employer to recognize the union. This is a big deal because unfair labor practices are common in such campaigns.
On top of that, the day before, the NLRB issued another rule requiring prompt union elections, a further blow against employer delaying tactics.
In June, the NLRB issued guidelines that make it harder for employers to classify workers as independent contractors. That hits home. I was one for years.
Lest anyone doubt where the administration stands, the Treasury Department released what it proudly called a “First-of-Its-Kind Report” on the economic value of organized labor. It found that unions raise the wages of their members by 10 to 15 percent, have “spillover effects” that benefit nonunion workers, “reduce race and gender wage gaps” and “boost businesses’ productivity.”
The report reflected how a large majority of the country feels. A recent Gallup survey found that 67 percent of Americans approve of unions. That’s down slightly from 71 percent last year, but Gallup emphasized that 2023 was “the fifth straight year this reading has exceeded its long-term average of 62%,” up from an “all-time low of 48% in 2009.” The survey also found a record-high 61 percent saying “unions help rather than hurt the U.S. economy.”
Economic Policy Institute president Heidi Shierholz perceives a large cultural shift. That’s good. But for now, a large group in Haywood County are still missing their shifts.