To honor Labor Day

'Trade Union' has become a dirty expression in American politics. Unions are blamed for everything from vote rigging to ruining companies. Unionized government employees are reviled for earning a decent living with health care and a pension by those who earn far more.

America grew and prospered because trade unions fought and died for safe working conditions and decent pay so that workers could be part of the American Dream. They earned enough and were secure enough to own their own homes, to have access to health care, to send their children to college, to enjoy vacations and to retire with a pension

Today that dream is threatened as incomes for the majority of Americans have stagnated, not merely since the recent economic downturn but for the past two decades while incomes for the wealthiest have soared.

Capitalism does best when everyone has a stake. That has changed for the worse and the prospects of this trend reversing are becoming less likely.