We live in a very different world today than when Labor Day was a local/regional holiday. The first Labor Day parade was held on September 5, 1882 in New York City when 10,000 workers took unpaid time off to march. The “workingman’s holiday” didn’t become a national event until 1894 following the American Railroad Union’s strike against the Pullman Palace Car company, protesting wage cuts and the firing of union representatives. Riots followed the government’s intervention (they sent in troops to break up the strike) and more than a dozen workers died. To repair ties with American workers, and the unions, Congress made Labor Day a holiday.

West Virginia’s labor history has been an interesting one. The first (and I’m pretty sure only) time the federal government bombed Americans on US soil happened in West Virginia during the 1921 Miner’s March on Logan. There have been scores of strikes, marches and protests over the last hundred years, in the coal industry and in others. Growing up, my dad was in a union and I remember my mother’s worry when he was facing a potential strike. (I think they went out for a couple days, but it was quickly resolved.) There were other times a strike was possible, but it was averted by last-minute negotiations.

One hundred and twenty years later, union membership has waned significantly (although there are still some very strong labor unions) and one-third of Americans work for small companies (fewer than 50 employees). Employment conditions have certainly changed, too. The strikes and boycotts of the industrial revolution led to the eight-hour work day and 40-hour work week, with paid vacation time, rules on child labor and many of the other benefits we consider standard.

In some ways, we are going through a new revolution; this time it is a technical one. As a nation we still produce coal and steel, cars and many, many other things. Technology and automation allow us to do the same jobs with fewer people. These changes hurt. People lose jobs they expected to have their entire lives. Groups like What’s Next, West Virginia? and Create West Virginia are interested in capitalizing on the work ethic and strength of the West Virginia worker and revolutionizing this state.

While the original purpose of Labor Day may have been to appease the labor unions and the labor movement, I think it was a tribute to the American worker regardless of where they work. On this upcoming Labor Day, enjoy the traditional end of summer; attend a football game or a picnic…or both.

At the same time, think about how you can create a new West Virginia. And ask yourself What’s Next?.

A staffer for a West Virginia politician with an office in Washington, D.C. recently referred to Crystal Good, as a “poverty profiteer”. Crystal is a poet and a thinker. A West Virginia girl, born and raised, she has lived around the country, but now makes her home in West Virginia. For the record, I’ve never met Crystal and I doubt she has ever heard my name, except that we are Facebook friends through some mutual connections.

This politician’s assistant suggested she profited from poverty and liked that West Virginia is “last in everything.” Having read some of Crystal’s work, my impression is the exact opposite. She isn’t afraid to talk about poverty or the things that are wrong in West Virginia, but I’m fairly confident she would much prefer to see her friends, family and fellow West Virginians doing well. And it is hard to imagine anyone suggesting a poet is a profiteer. It is the rare poet who actually makes a profit.

In reality, this attempted shaming (which really backfired) was about coal. Having seen what coal mining does to miners and coal mining communities, Crystal had the nerve (gasp) to suggest that something that politician spouted off about the coal industry was propaganda.

My friend Daniel Boyd’s new graphic novel Carbon has been labeled “controversial” in a couple recent news reports because it dares to portray the coal industry negatively. For the record, coal MINERS are the heroes of the story. Just not the industry itself.

We refuse to have a real conversation about coal. Our “leaders” want to blame the president’s policies for coal’s decreasing market share because he is unpopular in this state. Automation and heavy machinery have drastically reduced the number of people who work in coal mines. This isn’t something that began with the latest president.  Those same “leaders” won’t put any thought into job retraining or education or a plan for what to do after coal.

There is a general election coming up and a lot of people are paying lip-service to coal and being “for” West Virginia jobs. I want to hear what they plan to do to move West Virginia into the 21^st century—we should already be there. How about business start ups? Or economic diversity?  What about making sure another “water crisis” doesn’t poison the drinking water? How about protecting the quality of life in West Virginia that makes people from outside the state want to move here?

In the news business, a truism is to “follow the money”. Donations to political campaigns are public record. Find out who is donating to particular candidates and then ask yourself why. What does that company or industry hope to gain from those donations?

Another truism from the newspaper business is that you don’t start a fight with a person who buys ink by the barrel. In the modern world where words are digital, rather than ink-based, I would say you don’t want to start a fight with someone (like Crystal or Danny), who uses words, not just for a living, but because they HAVE to..

I’ve lived in California and North Carolina and traveled to six of the seven continents on this globe. I’ve seen enormous cities and I’ve seen small towns. Now that I’m back in West Virginia, I’ve found myself in Pinch, a tiny community north and east of Charleston. And I like it.

This weekend is the Pinch Reunion. The reunion is the “longest running community reunion” in the nation. It has been going on continuously since 1902. According to the website, the Pinch Reunion began to “raise the educational, religious, and family standards of the community of Pinch.”

Pinch today reminds me of Cross Lanes when I was a child in the 70s. Back then, everyone knew everyone else and that was a good thing. In the evenings, especially in the summer, everyone would be outside working in the yard, or relaxing and playing games. My dad built us a badminton court in the backyard and kids came from all over the neighborhood to play. We also had a chilled water fountain in our basement that my dad drug in from somewhere. When it was hot outside and everyone was sweaty from playing, there was nothing better than the water coming out of that fountain.

Growing up, we didn’t have a lot of extra money, but we camped at state parks and went to a lot of local festivals to hear music while my parents square danced. Those of are some of my best childhood memories.

In general, it seems like we are all busier and probably aren’t quite as social as we used to be back during my childhood. I hear kids out in my neighborhood playing, but it is just the younger ones. The older kids have too many things to do or they are busy with their phones and other electronic devices.

And that is where the Pinch Reunion comes in…for me anyway. I’m not from this area, so it isn’t like I’m going to see anyone I know there, but for me the reunion is a chance to hear some good local music in a really fun location (the “wigwam” on the Reunion Grounds is one of the coolest venues I’ve ever seen) and maybe reconnect with my own past and childhood. I’ll probably drag my girls along, too, so they can get a taste of what I’m talking about…if I can get them to put their phones down.

I’ll be there. Will you?

You can find the Pinch Reunion Schedule at: http://pinchreunion.webs.com/.