I’ve got a long list of things to do for work this weekend. Paper assignments and evaluation rubrics to write, quizzes to update, a couple of edited volumes of papers to read (or at least skim) through, and the novel World War Z to reread so I will be ready for the discussion in class. I have letters to write and a lot of emails to send, both work-related and not.
I don't have to go into work tomorrow (Monday), even though I will be working from home. This makes me particularly happy because it being the day of the year that it is exchanges something I can do (sit in front of a computer and communicate with people through sending little pixels marching across the screen) for something I temporarily find incredibly difficult (walking without falling, standing and sounding coherent while speaking through my gritted teeth, and being pleasant and helpful when if I can’t sit down I just want to lean against a wall and whimper a bit from the pain of a herniated disc).
So it seems the right time to say thank you to those who years ago fought for labor rights, for sick leave to be (even if not universal) something written into employment contracts, for those who realized that because education is an important public good, then people (i.e. the public) should be asked to pay for it through their taxes and children should be required to go to school to learn. Thank you to those people who continue to stand up to those who would lessen our requirements for teaching writing, reading, and critical thinking skills. Thank you for those who take their lives in their own hands every day when they step out of their houses to go to work.
These fighters make it possible for me to grumble about minor things at work without fear of losing my job for annoying someone (thank you to those who fought to establish tenure at universities and schools). Thanks to those who every year stand up to those who would get rid of any sort of job protection, from the already-noted tenure system in education, to the awfully named “right-to-work” legislation that is designed to undercut collective bargaining and the support it provides both collectively and to individuals.
Thank you to those who fought for my rights as a woman to both be an equal part of whatever organization I work for, as well as to get paid equally for doing the same work, no matter my gender or other irrelevant traits. I love my job but I am happier doing it knowing that what I do is valued equally whether I am a man or a woman. Even if people do say something weird or unpleasant or downright harassing to me, or to one of my students, it is because of people who were brave and stubborn, honest and tough (and did I mention brave?) and who stood up for the rights of those to follow, without knowing who they would be, and arguing their case based on ideas and principles that were more important than individuals. As the clock here in the Midwest flips to the 5th of September and that Monday off for the U.S. version of Labor Day, I wanted to say thank you to those who have come before us, and to those who continue to fight for the right to work where want, and to get paid no less than someone else based on my gender, or my looks, or my accent. And to know that I will not lose my job if someone finds out that I have written for Daily Kos for more than a decade, expressing some strong political beliefs as I do so.
I love my job as a college teacher. I love most of my students, and I love the work I do, the books I read, the people I work with. But there is more to it than just the enjoyment of the people and the task. It is the knowledge of the depth of years that have gone into my field, my university, and the working conditions in my country. There is a lot to still work on, but that is what the present and future are for.
On this Labor Day, who do you acknowledge for building up the field and position you have and its availability to you and whatever others want to do it in the future? Do you feel positive about the way it is going and your part in the greater whole?
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