The Finchers’ Labor Day reflections

By Linda Engelhard

Sun contributor

When Labor Day pops up on the calendar, people respond in a variety of ways, maybe sad that summer is ending or just happy for a day off. When Glen Arbor resident Russ Fincher reflects on Labor Day, he begins with the story of his parents. Harold and Edith grew up in Corbin, Kentucky, where coal companies were the major employers, and work was hard to find. Both of them had friends or family members who had been injured in the mines. When the people in southern Kentucky spoke up to demand safe working conditions, they were often beaten or fired. Those are the people that come to mind when Russ thinks about Labor Day.

When Harold Fincher returned to Corbin after serving in World War II, he discovered that his mother and two of his brothers had moved to Holland, Michigan. After the GI bill helped him get training as a welder, he joined his family in Holland. In the meantime, a representative of the H.J.Heinz pickle factory in Holland was in Corbin recruiting workers. Young Edith was promised a one year contract, a month of paid rent, and a bus ticket to Holland which she promptly used. She and Harold reconnected and were soon married.

Harold found work as a welder, specializing in heliarc welding. The smell of pickle brine permeated Edith’s hair and clothes, so when her contract was complete, she looked for other work. At about that time, General Electric opened an electric plant in Holland. Edith quickly applied, was hired, and began a job with benefits which changed her life and the life of the entire Fincher family. The union at GE guaranteed a forty-hour work week, health insurance, and paid time off. Edith’s income and insurance made it possible for Harold, with his stellar reputation as a welder, to start his own business, All Metal Welding. Russ remembers that the family acquired a camper trailer which they took to the UP. Edith could not stop marveling that she was being paid while she wasn’t at the factory. As a boy, Russ worked in the back of a delivery truck, dropping off milk in the wee hours all across the city of Holland for 29 cents an hour. When the driver tried to short him on his pay, Edith marched over to see the man and tell him that her son would never again work for someone so dishonest. She had learned first hand about the fair treatment of workers.

Russ worked for his dad and eventually took over when Harold retired from All Metal. The respect for workers and the values that his dad modeled stayed with Russ. He knew how hard the unions had worked to improve conditions for workers and raise their standard of living.

Labor unions were not popular in Holland, Michigan, but even the nonunionized companies improved pay scales and benefits to keep pace with what the unions had accomplished. Harold always insisted that if you work hard, you should be paid fairly. In addition to health insurance and paid vacation, Russ added 401Ks and bonuses for his employees. He had learned from his dad the value of quality work and the importance of rewarding it.

Labor Day is likely not the most important holiday for the majority of Americans, but Russ would argue that we need to give it more attention. President Grover Cleveland created the holiday in 1894 to calm the outrage after the Pullman Rail Strike. The Pullman Company had lowered its workers’ wages and charged them for rent at a time when they could barely afford to buy food. President Cleveland sent in troops, and at least 13 laborers were killed.

Laborers have always played a critical part in America’s progress and continue to do so, but instead of rewarding them for quality work, we reward the owners and CEOs for company profits. We give tax breaks to Americans who don’t need them and keep taxing the workers who need every penny of their paycheck. Their standard of living is declining while the wealthiest Americans look for loopholes to avoid paying toward the public good. Harold Fincher often said, “All you need is enough,” and his son Russ recommends that we all take that to heart.