Wednesday, March 23, 2011

The Department of Not-Labor in Maine



Now this is just hilarious (via):
Maine Gov. Paul LePage has ordered the removal of a 36-foot mural depicting the state's labor history from the lobby of the Department of Labor headquarters building in Augusta.
In addition, the LePage administration is renaming several department conference rooms that carry the names of pro-labor icons such as Cesar Chavez.
LePage spokesman Dan Demeritt says the mural and the conference room names are not in keeping with the department's pro-business goals and some business owners complained.
Orwellian! LePage is one the Republican Nazgûls who have ridden their ghost horses into the governorships of several US states.

But why not rename the Department of Labor something more attractive for business? The Department of Easily-Scrapped-Non-Durable-Inputs? Such inputs can't have unions, clearly.

Here are three panels from the mural. The rightmost one depicts textile workers of the past:




I can see how some of those panels might make a business person uncomfortable. But isn't that a good thing? Don't we want a world where work is safe and provides a sufficient living?

Who am I kidding there?

Hilda Solis has finally come out in support of unionization rights. Too little too late?

Ask the Nazgûls: