Quote of the Day (Alan Garfield, on Unions, Corporations and the Free-Market Economy)

“Misbehavior by individual unions does not undermine unions’ inherent value any more than corporate misbehavior undermines corporations’ value.  Both institutions play a vital role in a free market economy: one for organizing labor and the other for organizing capital.  Society should rein in abuses by either institution. But law-abiding unions and corporations should be encouraged to flourish.”— Prof. Alan Garfield, Widener University Delaware Law School, “Bench Press: Labor Unions and Corporations,” www.DelawareOnline.com, Jan. 7. 2016

For the last 40 years, the labor union movement has been set back on its heels. It's important to keep in mind Prof. Garfield's observation as we celebrate Labor Day. Many of us (this writer certainly included) owe our place in the American middle class to fathers and grandfathers who were union members.

The Minnesota Workers Memorial Garden, at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul, is dedicated to all Minnesotans who have given their lives in the workplace. The memorial was created Craig David (mural design), Mark Wickstrom (sculptor), and Jean Garbarini and Jennifer Germain (landscape architects). Ken Lund took this photograph of it on Aug. 15, 2018.