text: Happy and safe Labor Day to all my brothers and sisters who labor at the banquet of life whether covered by collective bargaining agreements or not. As someone who is blessed to be retired from a company that was a strong union supporter I wish unions were in the assent rather than decline. We all benefit from the ability to organize into unions and it is a symbiotic relationship between labor and employer. The fellow in the accompanying picture came to the job site fully trained in safety with the credentials necessary to be a certified, valued, highly trained worker. Our schools teach the job skills that employers need and the hands compete against one another to be the best in every trade. Many conservatives yearn for the 1950s as a halcyon time in American life and indeed it was a time when most men were covered by union employment which gave them enough of an income that the wife/mother was able to stay home and nurture the kids. Steady decay of unions has resulted in wage decay.