Jun. 09, 2003 - 21:45 MDT

THE WONDERING JEW

Old Stuff

Bring in the clowns, strike up the band and let the pitchman begin. Hee, hee, hee.

Dear Molly Ivins of the Creator's Syndicate, formerly of the Fort Worth Star Telegram who has followed Brer Bush longer than most of us non-Texans, pokes a bit of fun at the Pols and the Pres about the recent show in the Mid East.

She starts out, "I was pleased to see that the Stagecraft Administration had set up the "money shot" (money shot -- don't ask) for this peace conference whether any progress was made or not. The New York Times reported the Big Photo-Op -- in which the president and the two prime ministers appeared together on a bridge over the swimming pool behind the King of Jordan's palace -- early on."

She reports what was said by officials, "White House operatives had the Jordanians build a bridge over the pool, officials said, so that the leaders could walk over the water, side by side toward the massed cameras. When the first bridge proved too narrow for more than one man to cross at once, the Americans had the Jordanians tear it down and start over, officials said."

Now Molly comes on stage with her slap stick attack, "Here's another photo-op idea. If Bush does arrange a lasting peace between Israel and Palestine -- and I am rooting for him -- the White House could take down the bridge yet again and have all three of them walk on the water." What a hoot to picture. She is quite a gal and quite perceptive I think.

Then Molly brings up the sneak attack on me and the rest of us average Joes by the great and magnificent Pooh-Bahs. Follows: "Meanwhile back at the ranch, the House took up getting rid of the 40-hour workweek on June 5."

She goes on, "In one of those annoying little Republican exercises in cheap misdirection, this particular bill to screw workers is misleadingly titled The Family Time Flexibility Act." "Cute eh ? The only enforcement mehanism in the 40-hour work week is that employers have to pay time-and-a-half if they make you work more than 40 hours." Then Molly says, "Under this charmer, if you work overtime, your employer can pay you with straight comp time, one hour for one hour, instead of time and a half wages, thus saving the corporations millions."

These things under siege have been fought for, sweat for and often bled for. In the old days an employee worked six days a week fourteen to sixteen hours a day and then went to the church his employer demanded. Pensions were unheard of, vacations non-existant, safe working conditions were not enforced. So many of the other things most of us take for granted have become reality because of the sacrifice of working stiffs like you and me.

Of course there are people who put in those ungodly hours willingly because they are doing something that pleases them more than anything else in the world, for them -- they are getting paid for having fun - playing. With the bonus wages they raise their families too.

But for the most part, me and the rest of the workers of our country work as a matter of obtaining the the means to take care of ourselves and family, hoping to earn enough extra and by saving that extra, go somewhere on vacation or have and do some other desired things.

I have worked places where comp time ruled, I have worked places that did not observe the 40-hour work week or most any other rule of decent employment. I remember working one place where the following happened -- we went in to work one morning and the brass gathered us for a meeting. It opened with the words, "Okay you guys, you're all fired -- but don't get uneasy, you are rehired but will be paid under a new system. (Piece work)." The pay for the piecework was so low that none of us could feed our family on the wages we made. To begin with those folks were the most hardworking, concientious, precise craftsmen I ever saw and took a low blow. Those things could and often did happen at an employer's whim. I have worked places that didn't pay time-and-a-half wages for overtime and most of the employees would work ungodly hours just to make straight time for those extra blood money hours so as to be able to feed their families.

It seems to me that we are under attack once more. This time economically. Next will come benefits fought for through time. Health care is under attack now, the co-pay keeps getting higher and higher, working conditions are getting worse and from what I read OSHA has been emasculated.

So it seems that once again the young folks will have to go through the mill and once again put up with the same Old Stuff . . . . . . . . . . . .

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