Tow Professional Podcast
Decoding the Labor Movement: A Conversation with Sheila K Harrington
Curious about the origins of Labor Day? Longing to understand how the industrial revolution shaped the American workforce? This fascinating journey with Sheila K Harrington as our guide will satiate your curiosity. You'll learn about the gritty history of this celebrated holiday and the labor movement that fought for shorter workdays and days off for our tireless workers. We also shed light on the harsh working conditions of the industrial revolution, the wages of the common worker, and the shocking reality of child labor during that era.
The second half of our discussion is as gripping as the first. We traverse the compelling narrative of Carnegie Steel and the labor movement that ignited massive protests. With Sheila's expertise, we dissect the reasons behind the company's decision to slash employee wages and dismantle the union. Journey with us as we travel back in time to the Pullman Palace Car Company's intriguing tale and how Eugene Debs' electrifying protest rally catalyzed a dramatic series of events. We end on a reflective note with a prayer for the abundance, safeguarding, and blessings of our frontline workers. This episode is not merely an educational journey, but a poignant reminder of why we need to honor our hardworking compatriots.
Curious about the origins of Labor Day? Longing to understand how the industrial revolution shaped the American workforce? This fascinating journey with Sheila K Harrington as our guide will satiate your curiosity. You'll learn about the gritty history of this celebrated holiday and the labor movement that fought for shorter workdays and days off for our tireless workers. We also shed light on the harsh working conditions of the industrial revolution, the wages of the common worker, and the shocking reality of child labor during that era.
The second half of our discussion is as gripping as the first. We traverse the compelling narrative of Carnegie Steel and the labor movement that ignited massive protests. With Sheila's expertise, we dissect the reasons behind the company's decision to slash employee wages and dismantle the union. Journey with us as we travel back in time to the Pullman Palace Car Company's intriguing tale and how Eugene Debs' electrifying protest rally catalyzed a dramatic series of events. We end on a reflective note with a prayer for the abundance, safeguarding, and blessings of our frontline workers. This episode is not merely an educational journey, but a poignant reminder of why we need to honor our hardworking compatriots.
Welcome one and all to Toe Professional On the Go podcast. This is your host, dj Harrington, better known as the Guardian. I want to remind all of you this podcast is for the pros that have a need to know, that are on the go, the true voice of the Toe and Recovery Institute. Now, this is a special edition. It's about Labor Day and I have my better half, shira Kay Harrington, helping us on this podcast. So let me bring on the other host of this program, the president and publisher of Toe Professional Magazine, my dear friend Darren Weaver Darren, how are you today?
Speaker 2:Bad DJ. I am excited, happy, great and glad to be on this side of the grass today.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:I tell you it's a great day. Everything's downhill from here. You know what I'm saying. It's beautiful and I feel that fall's coming on. I'm excited about the upcoming shows. Headed to North Carolina next week's going to be a great show. And then we got another fantastic one in the family show Our favorite, one of our favorites the Ohio show, midwest Regional. I'm excited about that. And let me tell you I'm really excited about this podcast because Shira did this last year about Labor Day. It's very touching and it gets down to the point. So you understand, not just the day off, not just the barbecue, it's so much more than that. So I'm so excited to have her on the day she knows the history of all these events.
Speaker 2:So, darren, you asked Shira the first question and I'll do the other one, okay, Well, shira first question I have is first off, like I said, we've asked Shira to join us today to discuss Labor Day and how it came to be. So the first thing I want to ask is why do we celebrate Labor Day?
Speaker 3:Now Labor Day has become kind of the unofficial end of summer because our kids are finally back in school. When I was growing up we didn't go back to school until after Labor Day. Now it's different. In Georgia now we go on August the first, but Labor Day has always fallen on the first Monday of every September and it's really considered to be a national holiday in the US, specifically for the American worker. So our kids are out of school, state and federal offices are closed and Labor Day has huge origins in the labor movement, and when you think about the holiday, labor Day, labor is the operative word. There is some uncertainty of who really deserves credit for the idea of having a Labor Day. But both men involved were union heads. One was a union head for the United Brotherhood of Carpenters. His name was Peter Maguire, and there is another one who also was a machinist and secretary of the Central Labor Union. His name was Matthew Maguri. I hope I'm saying their names right, but they're very similar, so we'll see.
Speaker 2:Well, I tell you you're doing a better job than I could. So what we're going to drill into is it's getting back, as both these men wanted to get back in the way, to give back and honor those hardworking men and women that were performing the task here for us. I love it. I love it. Well DJ to you, sir.
Speaker 1:You got it Well. Here's what I'm interested in. I'm interested in knowing more details. At some point, America started celebrating Labor Day, but which of these so-called fathers of Labor actually did it?
Speaker 3:Well, I'll be glad to discuss that a little bit. As I mentioned before the two men involved in the process, even the Department of Labor. While most sources think it, they credit Peter Maguire with the origination of Labor Day, recent evidence kind of indicates that the true father of Labor may be in fact Matthew Maguri. They have similar spellings and pronunciations of the last name. But no matter which one of them planned it, one of them at least held a Labor Day parade on September the 5th in 1882, and there were about 10,000 workers, they say, that participated in the parade, and it was held in New York City. So there is no particular significance to the date of September 5th and that's why we celebrate it on the first Monday of every September. Really, they picked the date of September the 5th really because they wanted it to fall halfway between July the 4th and Thanksgiving. So that's why September was chosen for the parade.
Speaker 2:Wow, that is DJ. I'm telling you this is information. Like I said, she knows the history like no other, so I am loving this. Let me ask the next question here, because I've done no. Sheila, if you will, can you discuss some events that brought all this about?
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, I certainly can, and, as I mentioned, labor Day is deeply rooted in about 130 years of the labor movement and its efforts to help improve working conditions in America for the American worker.
Speaker 3:When the industrial revolution started, what customers and consumers were wanting was mass production.
Speaker 3:They wanted a better selection, they wanted it faster, and so therefore the demand for labor and training was born because they needed the workers protected. So around the 1850s there was a push for shorter workdays and days off, and they were really needed by the American worker because you're thinking about them working very long hours, working every day of the week. Even children were working alongside their parents, as young as five or six, and they really only received a fraction of what their parents and other adults really were making. And parents and workers the common worker averaged anywhere from a dollar to a dollar fifty per day, and if they had more of a specialized job then they made more money per day. But imagine a child as young as five or six working as hard as they could obviously not as well as an adult might but making only 10 or 20% of that dollar or dollar fifty. So when I think about that, that could be 10 cents or 20 cents as a daily wage and you know, I think that's awful for them to have endured that.
Speaker 1:Well, darren, here's what I want to add. I really can't imagine any of my grandchildren having to work at a pace that disjunge age. So before we take our break, sheila, tell us a little bit more about how you feel about your grandchildren working at this place.
Speaker 3:Well, I agree with you. When I thought about it, I can't imagine a child as young as a kindergartner because that's what a five or six year old is working machinery and I'm talking about heavy-duty machinery. In my mind I can see my granddaughter my oldest one, pushing a wheelbarrow of stuff down an island factory where the cleaning wasn't done on the island. I can imagine her dirty face and sweat coming from her body due to improper ventilation and factories and it being hot in the summer, but then in the winter I'm thinking I can see her breath coming because there's no heat in the factory. Nothing was done. It's too great, and many times accidents occur and they will on the job anyway in the day time, but there might have been an adult or a child that was injured or even died because of the dangerous work they did. Workers really complain to the staff and the management about these conditions in these companies, but nothing ever seemed to happen to make it any better.
Speaker 1:Well, let's do this, darren, let's take a fast break and when we come back, listeners, we're going to tell you more about Labor Day and what we're doing for Labor Day, or something We'll be right back.
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Speaker 1:You have been listening to Toe Professional on the Go podcast each and every week, like this episode. We do our best to bring you up information. So this is on Labor Day, please. We're available on Spotify, itunes, pandora, google Play, stitcher, iheart Media, amazon or wherever you get your podcast. So, darren, let me pass it on over you so you can ask Sheila the next one.
Speaker 2:Man, I appreciate it. D-z, I'm absolutely enjoying this. I don't know about you listeners. I love history and this is a good one. Well, I take it, sheila, we are building to a boiling point with the conditions and everything these workers are having to go through.
Speaker 2:So, I guess my next question is I guess the only way to fix it was through administration, through strike, through just stopping the work. So who was the? What was the first company that had workers to rebelle and to go on a strike and say we're done with these working conditions, in these long hours?
Speaker 3:Well, you are correct. In 1877, there was the Great Railroad Strike we had as a country. We were already in our fourth year of a recession, so wages were down. People were tired of working every day, and the company involved with the first strike was really the B&O Railroad, and that's located in Martinburg, west Virginia. And what they did was they announced that wages would be reduced by 10%. So think about it people who are working long hours with no time off and don't deserve to work for less money, but B&O demands a 10% reduction in pay. They really just poured fuel on the fires. What they did.
Speaker 2:Well, you talked about putting salt in a wound right there.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, Sheila, let me ask this one. I believe what you're saying in all this stuff. There were other events that caused a similar issue with workers. Tell our listeners a little bit about the A-market workers.
Speaker 3:Okay. In 1886, that involved the American Federation of Labor they called for a general strike in Chicago, the city of Chicago, and they were demanding an eight-hour workday. And that is known today as the Haymarket Affair, and that's because of the area that it happened at. The Haymarket strike quickly became violent. Somebody decided it was a brilliant idea to throw a bomb into the crowd, but that bomb killed some policemen and injured many workers. I think it was even 65 workers, to be exact. Another important strike was the Haystead strike, the Homestead, pennsylvania. There was a dispute between the workers and obviously the railroad company.
Speaker 3:but the railroad company locked out the workers. So they got a brilliant idea let's just lock them out. They can't work. And they thought it was such a great idea to bring in private security, but what it did was it caused more violence, and that strikes involved the famous today that we know, carnegie Steel Company and the Iron Workers Association.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:This is unbelievable. So this came to a head. Calls the strikes, and then when they start locking the workers out yeah, you're right, the only thing they had to do to be able to make wages for their families is to rebel about being locked out, and that creates a bad situation. Well, let's just hang in there. We've got more great history on Labor Day Coming to you from Sheila Harrington. We'll be right back after this quick break, thank you.
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Speaker 1:Welcome back listeners. Remember to like, review and share everywhere If you want to hear more pertinent information or for industry experts. This is a special addition on labor day. Remember to like, review and share everywhere. This is a special addition about labor day. But if you'd like to hear more industry experts, by all means call the hotline number for Toe Professional On-the-Go Podcast, the number 706-409-5603. And Darren Weaver and I will do our best to get that industry expert on this podcast for you. Now, darren, you asked the question because I know you want to know more about this. Carnegie Steel.
Speaker 2:Oh yes, that's what's fascinating to me. So okay, sheila, what I want to ask now is Carnegie Steel. That was a huge steel company. What did both sides want from it?
Speaker 3:Well, the dispute began with the plant manager. He got a brilliant idea he wanted to out pay cuts for the hundreds of homestead workers and he refused to negotiate with the union. So he locked the steel workers out, hired 300 armed guards from the Pinkerton Detective Agency we all are familiar with that and they were supposed to protect the non-union strike breakers, the people they brought in to continue working during the strike. Well, here's what each side really wanted. Carnegie Steel obviously wanted, as a company, wanted to reduce employee wages and they really wanted to disband the union. But the union, on the other side, wanted to help the workers get more money in their pockets but also provide better working conditions. And there are many other major events that happened to kind of move this labor movement along. There were other big companies that were also involved too as well.
Speaker 1:Alright, sheila, I know Darren asked you that question. I want to ask you I'm sure there had to be other major events that happened to help move this labor movement along. I'm interested and I know our listeners are interested in the Pullman train company and the luxury car train. Explain to our listeners about that.
Speaker 3:Well, that was actually the Pullman Palace car company. I have to say that's slow to get all the words in, but the issue was about the luxury train that really provided wealthy and your upper middle class riders with luxurious living and sleeping quarters when they traveled by train. Now former slaves provided the ballet services. So when the Pullman wanted to save money and reduce wages for their employees, they reduced the wages all the way down 30 percent not about 10 percent, but 30 percent, like other companies had done in the past. This included the servers on the train as well as the common workers who were actually making the train. So carpenters and silver plate workers made the most money, obviously because they were more specialized anywhere from $3 to $3.50 per day. But the average worker made $1 to $1.50 per day and if they happened to live in a company rental then their rent wasn't reduced, even though their wages were being reduced by 30 percent. So when you look at it from our perspective now, greed certainly lined the pockets of the owners and upper management.
Speaker 3:But there was a head of the railway union. His name was Eugene Dez. He kind of took notice. He got involved in the Pullman car strike and thought it was a brilliant idea to persuade all other railroad companies to remove those Pullman cars Kind of a sympathy for those Pullman workers. So he was trying to push the company out of business in the long run he was trying to do.
Speaker 2:Wow, that is absolutely fascinating, absolutely fascinating. Well, let me ask you this that might have seemed like a good idea at the time on paper, but what happened after that? And did they get the attention of the Pullman car company through the action?
Speaker 3:They sure did. They definitely got their attention. Dez kind of fueled the train workers anger with the fire escape so he decided he'd talk a little bit. But it was so, so fiery that he made it in his protest rally that it prompted some protesters to set fire to a nearby building and that caused the railing of a US mail train. And all of us know, listening, that you can't ever mess with the US mail They've got to go through. So that really made everybody sit up and take notice and kind of as a sidebar here later eventually a George Pullman, the owner of the company, passed away.
Speaker 3:And do you know who took his place? It was the son of Abraham Lincoln, robert Todd Lincoln. He ran that company as president for about 14 years after Pullman died. But until Lincoln took over things looked pretty grim for this company Pullman, a palace car company to try to stay in business. So some protesters were prosecuted, they were in, some were prisoned. I think it was several that were executing, while three were eventually pardoned by the governor's successor. But none of it in the long run should have ever happened that way. But it did start negotiations for better working conditions than wages for workers, yeah, I was going to say Darren.
Speaker 1:I didn't know about Lincoln's son Todd doing all this.
Speaker 3:Well, I didn't either, and so I checked in deeper.
Speaker 1:Now let me ask you about Eugene Depp. How'd he get away with this addition? And I mean, I understand what it was, what he probably wanted to happen, but it seems to me he used a lot of muscles instead of his brain.
Speaker 3:Well, I kind of agree with you Then spent six months in jail for his part in that, for inciting violence, but he later would spend several decades in prison for other stuff that he did. So he was kind of a. He entered the railroad work at age 14, but through the years he became an activist, and here's why, while he was in jail, the first time he spent he started studying the writings of Karl Marx, and we know that's not a good thing. Deb's was convinced that the only way to get the right change that was needed was through enforcement. So to some degree it kind of reminds me of what's going on in the country today. People, activists and climate change activists are trying to get us to believe what they believe and to make changes, kind of in an enforcing way.
Speaker 3:But here's what happened to Deb. He ran for president on the socialist ticket. However, I kind of looked it up to see how many votes he'd made if he would have gotten more than one president he made. He got a short of a million votes. I think it's 900 or something, 900,000 or something While he ran for president and he was in jail while he went and ran. So, dj, it's kind of been a struggle for the American workers for a long time and some of the labor movement was good, but some of us, you know it was very ugly. So at the height of the Industrial Revolution Americans really wanted things quicker and better selection. But it took years for labor laws and better working conditions to kind of catch up with our industrial progress. So thankfully today we do have labor laws in place for our workers and they make what we do better for our customers, because businesses really give them better wages and working conditions than our past generations really had.
Speaker 2:Well, we're almost to the end of our podcast about Labor Day, so, sheila, will you give us some quotes here that are from Labor Day?
Speaker 3:I sure will. I picked out a couple and yes, I would like to finish with those, and this is one in particular from Martin Luther King Jr. We all know him as having what he did for civil rights and I know they just celebrated his. I have a dream speech just recently, but here's what he?
Speaker 3:said about the labor movement History is a great teacher. Now everyone knows that the labor movement did not diminish the strength of the nation, but enlarged it by raising the living standards of millions. Labor miraculously created a market for industry and lifted the whole nation to under-undrained levels of production. Those who attack labor forget these simple truths, but history remembers them. You know, martin Luther King Jr was really intuitive about the labor movement and DJ. Here's another quote that I saw from Dan Miller. He's the author of the book 48 Days to the Work you Love. Money is ultimately never enough compensation for investing one's time and energy. There must be a sense, and here's the three things he was talking about a sense of purpose, meaning and accomplishment. So whether you're a business owner, supervisor, team leader doesn't matter. You just need to have that sense of purpose, meaning and accomplishment and remind them that you're in business.
Speaker 1:There you go, Gary.
Speaker 3:And why?
Speaker 2:Without a doubt. I think that brings us back to today, to you see, a nation that is working hard, putting their heart, soul and passion in everything they do, going home and feeling like the work they did was just for a pocketful of change. So in some ways, we've just like you said, if we don't watch history, we're destined to repeat it, and we I feel like we're a nation that has a history of sometimes to have to hit our head twice to figure things out. But it's awesome to see the story that's behind this and the compassion, empathy, strength, wages and everything that the workers need.
Speaker 2:The only way they got it was by being that squeaky wheel, by standing up for their family's, for their values, for the hard work they're putting in and being paid, because always in the corporate world, corporate wants to pay you the least they can pay you to get the most out of you.
Speaker 2:And you have to stand for your own values and say this is my self worth and this is what I've got to have. And, as a business owner, I think that's the biggest thing we can do for our employees is give them purpose, show them what they're doing is making a difference and showing them the accomplishments that they're making, because, like you said, there's a thing that are a lot more important than money, and that's having a sense of purpose, a sense of accomplishment and feeling like you're making a difference. And I tell you, this is one industry that I've seen it more than I've seen it in any other industry that I've ever done business with is compassion, empathy, friendship, family, love, hope, joy. I've seen it all in this industry, from our first responders, from our towing professionals, from their employees.
Speaker 1:It's phenomenal and that's why I love it. I got to tell a lot of our listeners when Sheila started doing the history of this and said what do you think if Darren would like to have it on the podcast? And I said, sheila, not because of our sponsors. But when she said, sure, dan, you think of like about how improved their trucks have been, their vehicles, because they listened to the hard labor people in our industry. Co-books is better today than years because they listened to the labor in their industry. You know every one of our sponsors have been the reason why people leave their home. They kiss their wives and husbands goodbye in the morning and they all come home safely because of the people who sponsored this podcast and you know better than anyone, being the editor and publisher of the magazine we represent you and I'm proud to be part of it.
Speaker 1:Even a small statement, I'm proud to be part of it.
Speaker 2:Hey, me as well, DJ. Without a doubt you know there's another one of our sponsors. I tell you, recovery Billing Unlimited. Let me tell you this that's a company that was built from a father that started working, that rented one bay of an automotive facility to start doing work and grew this to something that is history in this industry. And Recovery Billing Unlimited puts their knowledge out there to put more dollars in the pocket of towers. And that's the key is, if we're going to be in this industry and we're going to dip a ladle in there and take out of it, we've got to be pouring back into it. And that's what's so exciting about this podcast and about me and you being able to talk to our listeners and let them know how much value they have in our lives and how much we want to make their lives easier, make sure they're safe, make sure they're more prosperous and make sure they're getting back to their families and realizing their dreams for the hard work and service that they're doing.
Speaker 1:Well, darren, before Sheila and I get off this podcast, we have to tell you our daughter has a second home down in Florida, down in Treasure Island, florida, and the mayor of Treasure Island the other day yesterday on the television showed he was standing at three and four feet of water in Treasure Island, florida. And I called my daughter and I said are you looking at the TV? You're mayor of Treasure Island, Florida. Is there? She said Dad, all the people on that side of the island? Yes, the first two streets. We live on the 8th Street. We didn't get it. We live on an inlet, so we took our boat out of the water. Our neighbors lost their docks and their boats. So, darren, when you end your podcast, you always say a little prayer. So I hope you would extend your prayer not just to our sponsors, our listeners, our readers, but think about the people that have gone through this hurricane and their survivors.
Speaker 3:Disaster recovery workers.
Speaker 2:Yeah, without a doubt, we have a lot of things happen when we have these natural disasters and we go about getting through them, but I think a lot of the folks watching TV it's hard to understand how much trauma, how much struggle goes along with these natural disasters and losing everything you have or having to back up, replace vehicles, replace houses, still get kids to school and so on in its top. So, yeah, without a doubt. First off, I want to say thank you, listeners Again. You've helped make this podcast one of the most successful in this industry. We hear back daily from our listeners of how they enjoy the publication, how they enjoy the podcast and how it's helped them. So that's what we're here about.
Speaker 2:But, my Heavenly Father, let me ask you. Heavenly Father, I just ask that you extend your blessings, extend your protection, extend your peace and extend your healing upon the people in Florida right now that have been affected by this hurricane, by anybody who has lost anyone from this, by people that have lost their homes, lost their businesses, lost their vehicles. We just ask that you be there in the gap with them, strengthen them and their families and show them that out of this you will bring great blessings for them. Lord, we know that the only way a diamond is made is through tremendous pressure, and I just ask everybody that listens to this podcast if you're going through a tremendous amount right now, just remember the only way an oyster can make a pearl, the only way you can make a diamond is through tremendous pressure, and on the other side of that pressure it's something beautiful, so keep fighting for it.
Speaker 2:Dear Lord, we also ask you extend your hand out, your peace, your love and fill the folks in Maui right now that are going through a tremendous loss, with up to 2,000 children not showing up at school now and current weeks to come, with family members missing, with homes gone. Housing and work need to be done there. Lord, we just ask you, lift that island up, lift those people up, let them fill your connection and that you're there. And, dear Lord, we continually ask you to bless our vendors, help them prosper, give them the wisdom they need to continuously make better products and bring our first responders back to their family members safe and dear. Heavenly Father, bless, protect and cover our first responders, our men and women that are out there fighting daily with a servant's heart to bring our families home. Protect them, lord. Watch over them. Until next time, listeners, we pray for your safety, your prosperity. Go out there and serve with a servant's heart, and we appreciate you, we love you and God bless.