Happy Belated Labor Day

I actually celebrated Labor Day with much attention to the root history of the day. I went to Detroit's labor day parades (yes, there's more than one due to a split in union philosophy). I went to a union picnic. I watched an amazing documentary about Wal-Mart.

So there's two news-related prongs to this post.

First--this article, in today's New York Times, outlines the growing need for unionization at Toyota's U.S. plants. Apparently the previously stable jobs are now in jeopardy, say some leaked internal documents. And of course, workers are now fearful of their futures. I'm glad that they're starting to realize the benefits of unionization and pray it's not too late. This quote pretty much sums it up:

Mr. Williams said he envies the contracts his counterparts in Detroit have. “What they have is what the Big Three negotiated with them,” he said. “What we have is what Toyota gives and takes from us.”

Second--I spent the latter part of my evening watching a documentary about a place I truly hate--Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price is an amazing documentary that truly lets the workers, the towns and the environments destroyed by Wal-Mart to speak for themselves. I suggest you watch it today. For those with digital cable and Starz, it's available to wach on StarzOnDemand.