The labor force here in the U.S. may be at almost full-employment, but the wage gap has never been greater. And membership in labor unions, the force that championed worker safety, rights and fair wages since the dawn of the industrial revolution, is at an all-time low. Might there be a corollary? For this year’s Labor Day theme, we’ll focus on all kinds of jobs, and the workers who make things and make things run. Celebrating the workforce … this week on The Sing Out! Radio Magazine!

LISTEN:

Artist / “Title” / CD / Label

Pete Seeger / “If I Had A Hammer” (excerpt) / Songs of Hope and Struggle /
              Smithsonian Folkways
Curt Bouterse / “Carlisle” / Nixon’s Farewell / Dancing Cat
Joe Jencks / “Solidarity Forever” / Poets, Philosophers, Workers & Wanderers / Turtle Bear
Barbara Dane / “”Millworker” / Hot Jazz, Cool Blues & Hard Hitting Songs / Smithsonian
              Folkways
Tom Chapin / “Fair Pay Fair Play Blues” / Threads / Sundance

John McCutcheon / “Sydney-Joe Hill” / Untold / Appleseed
John O’Connor / “Saturday” / We Ain’t Gonna Give it Away / Self Produced
Curt Bouterse / “Tucson Tucstep” / Nixon’s Farewell / Dancing Cat

Peggy Seeger / “Gonna Be An Engineer” / The Folkways Years 1955-1982 / Smithsonian
              Folkways
New Lost City Ramblers / “Old Age Pension Check” / Songs from the Depression /
              Smithsonian Folkways
Magpie / “The Mill Was Made of Marble” / When We Stand Together / Long Tail
Alice Gerrard & Kay Justice / “Cotton Mill Girls” / Tear Down the Fences / Kbell

Malvina Reynolds / “Bury Me in my Overalls” / Ear to the Ground / Smithsonian Folkways
Windbourne / “Which Side are You On” / Song on the Times / Self Produced
Pete Seeger / “If I Had A Hammer” (excerpt) / Songs of Hope and Struggle /
              Smithsonian Folkways