General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Social security is designed to provide a minimum degree of security upon which a worker builds. [View all]Igel
(35,191 posts)I was young when there were lots of unionized industrial jobs around, but a lot of jobs weren't unionized. I grew up with friends whose father supported a relatively tolerable lifestyle (nothing by comparison to most today, but this was the '60s). I also grew up with friends whose parents worked no less hard, but had the misfortune of working for a small, non-unionized company. Their father's take home was 50% or less of the unionized fathers' pay.
"Labor" wasn't treated like the resource it is and got precious little respect, if by "labor" you mean "the people who put forth the effort of production."
"Labor" was given grudging respect, if by "labor" you mean "the political and strike-based clout wielded by unions."
These are really different categories of things.