Story last updated at 9/1/2010 - 12:11 pm
There must be as many different ways to think about work as there are different jobs in Juneau. And you could make a good argument that Labor Day is best spent not thinking about it at all. But if you do take a moment to reflect, there's a good chance you'll end up feeling pretty happy to be in the state we're in - Alaska, that is.
Our state has weathered the economic storm of the past years relatively well. "Alaska's economy powers through recession," bragged a recent Juneau Empire headline. The story quotes state labor economist Neal Fried saying, "We're in a place of envy right now." Alaska's unemployment rate is lower than the nation's, and Juneau has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the state.
The Alaskan industries that seem to be holding strong in the recession are the same industries that come first to mind when we think of how many people make their living in our state - fishing, mining, oil and government.
Labor Day became national holiday in the aftermath of the 1894 Pullman Strike, when - following the deaths of railroad workers by U.S. military and marshalls - Grover Cleveland sought to make peace with labor unions.
I doubt many of us think of the Pullman Strike during our barbecues. This could be in part because those who contemplate the history of Labor Day in 2010 - especially in Southeast Alaska - might not have many personal connections to railroad workers. So, striking a little closer to home, this publication features an excellent story by Richard Radford about the 1935 miners' strike in Juneau (page 4).
While far more Juneau residents these days work for government than for mining companies, Hecla Greens Creek remains one of our community's top employers, and with this year's opening of Kensington Gold Mine, the number of miners in our community is growing again. In thinking about the future of workers in this industry in our community, we've included a story on programs designed to prepare local workers for jobs in local mines (page 10).
The state's commitment to getting local people into local jobs is discussed further in a report by the Alaska Journal of Commerce included here on page 7. Even a quick glance at the state Department of Labor website reveals dozens of programs working to accomplish this. The one we've chosen to feature in this publication is the Juneau Job Center because of its broad reach - absolutely anyone is welcome to take advantage of the extensive free resources offered to job seekers (page 6).
As we started talking about possible designs for this publication's cover, one of my colleagues did a quick clipart search for "working." Almost all the resulting images showed formally attired people talking on telephones or working on computers. We laughed and wrote off the images entirely - there would be no way we could pass any of them off as Alaskans. Kudos to graphic designer Jessy Post for the stellar design you see on the cover, connecting local workers past and present.
Finally, as you peruse the following pages, a simple phrase will pop out from nearly all the advertisements: thank you. We often save our thanks for, well, Thanksgiving, but Labor Day is as good a day as any to say "Thank you."
After all, regardless of what we do for work - whether we work in a quiet office building, a dark mine, a fishing boat, a store, a restaurant; whether we work 37.5 hours a week with regular breaks or two 84-hour weeks followed by two weeks off; whether we come home from tough days exhausted physically or exhausted mentally; whether we think of work as a fulfilling vocation or a necessarily evil - it's nice to feel appreciated.
So if we do nothing else to celebrate Labor Day, let's at least say thank you to everyone whose work we appreciate - employees, coworkers, family members, community members.
On a personal note, to everyone who has read this far and to everyone who reads our publications, I can't thank you enough. You make our work worthwhile.
- Katie Spielberger, CCW editor
