The picture above was taken in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania in 1911. Nanticoke is about 20 miles from where my Grandmother grew up in Pittston, Pennsylvania. She told me about boys going off to work in the mines when she was going off to school. Child labor laws weren't passed until 1916 when she was 9 years old. The laws outlawing child labor and work place safety weren't changed because of benevolent business owners but from the work of labor organizers and child advocates. The 40 hour work week, health care benefits, paid vacations and sick leave were all first negotiated by unions. Today union busting advocates maybe prefer to go back to an earlier time. Today is a good time to look at the picture above and say a thank you to unions that our children today don't have to face the reality of the children pictured above in 1911.
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