Today is Labor Day in the US.
In previous years, I have written posts about bicycle races and other events held on this holiday. I have also written about the relationships between cycling, the bicycle industry and labor.
While cycling is seen as a “green” activity and we, cyclists, have a reputation for being more socially and politically progressive than most other people, the bicycle industry, at least in the US, has its share of companies and executives who have fought against workers organizing and exploited them in other ways. And almost no bicycles sold in the US are made here. (Custom frames and high-end models from major companies—like Specialized “S” Works—that are still made in one of the 50 states comprise less than one tenth of one percent of bikes sold in this country.) Manufacturers moved their production to low-wage countries where workers are paid poorly and have few, if any, rights and environmental laws are all but nonexistent
Now we have a President who has somehow convinced millions of people he is an ally of workers. And he doesn’t hide his contempt for cyclists. That, of course, is almost reason enough (at least for.me) to continue cycling through my midlife which, to my mind, lasts as long as I don’t know when my life will end. And it’s a reason to truly support workers, with whom—whatever we do for a living—we have more in common than many of us realize.
