LABOR DAY RUMINATIONS

As the country takes a brief break on Labor Day, let's talk a bit about labor---and also  management and government.

I read in the "New York Times" an op-ed piece by Hedrick Smith, now in his senior years, but always a well-respected journalist-commentator-talking head. Smith talked about the revolutionary, at the time, decision by Henry Ford in 1914 to raise wages to the astronomical figure of $5.00 a day at a time when a laborer was lucky to make three bucks daily. Henry Ford was never noted primarily as an altruist or for spending money unnecessarily; he was tight-fisted and eminently successful in his prime.

So why did Ford do this? Because he recognized that happy workers were successful and productive workers. If they had job security and a decent wage, they would, in addition to producing more, also spend more, which in turn would stimulate the economy, create business, and therefore increase prosperity for business, a felicitous cycle.

In the course of his article Smith dropped an interesting and neglected statistic; from 1973 until 2011 productivity increased over 80% while wages increased a shade over 4%, according to economic data analyzed by the Economic Policy Institute.

Smith also mentions the social contract practiced in Germany between government, business and labor where agreements are reached for  the common good by each side being willing to compromise for the betterment of all.

It would be well for politicians, government employees, workers, capitalists and the financial world to heed these facts. Wages have certainly not kept pace in this modern world, and, as a result the poorer working class has grown and the middle class is stagnant. Given, businesses have modernized, streamlined, pared off the fat and are lean mean profit machines, which is good competitively. If, however, we continue to grow the poor and weaken the middle class, won't something have to give? At some point, won't resentment turn even nastier and create a kind of economic civil war?  The "Occupy Wall Street" was a tangible sign of such rebellion.

Can't political parties at odds, businesses and unions at odds, financiers and regulators at odds---can't these disparate but interdependent factions learn to converse with each other FOR THE COMMON GOOD? We don't have to become a socialist state to achieve such harmony. This country has been world-famous for its creativity, innovation and economic success. Can't we take that ingenuity and apply it to the betterment of all segments of American society?

We need successful and prosperous capitalists. We need a growing and dynamic work force. We need a political system not in deadlock but able to converse and solve problems. Our time is running out to achieve such harmony. We need better educational standards; we need a symbiotic relationship between management and labor; we need a government that mutually faces up to the problems of deficit and entitlements in a problem-solving positive mode.

Just a few Labor Day thoughts. Have a good one.