Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: Workers earn applause

Friday, Aug. 29, 2003 | 4:47 a.m.

This Labor Day is a difficult time for at least 3 million American workers who no longer have a job. Holding a job has long been a symbol of honor for the people of this industrious nation. Their desire and ability to work has carried this nation through several wars and economic depressions. Our working men and women have been able to make more and better products than our adversaries.

A good example of productive power came during World War II when our nation built more ships and airplanes than Germany and Japan could sink and shoot down. Our military people were heroic on the battlefield, oceans and in the air, but they wouldn't have tasted victory in less than four years without the production lines at home.

Even during economic recessions and depressions our working people have never lost their desire to work. Slowly our economy has always rebounded from the pain of a recession or the depths of a depression. I recall that my father's lunch bucket was a symbol of happiness when, during the winter months, he carried it to work before the sun came up and returned home only after it had set. During the summer months, our farm, woods and streams kept us well fed and plenty was stored for the winter. It was those long Wisconsin winter months during the Great Depression that cash had to be earned. This Dad did, while working outside for a dollar a day whenever the opportunity was presented. He was also the first in line when his construction craft began to make a comeback in early 1942.

Today our local economy is slowly improving since the blow it felt two years ago. Most of the men and women who keep our tourism economy running are too busy this weekend to rest or celebrate. Our cooks, food servers, room attendants, bed makers, valets, bartenders, dealers and other hotel employees are happy to be busy. Many of them probably wish that other family members and friends also had jobs.

The recent death of Vera Crowe reminded many of us how important some people are in securing the wages and dignity workers deserve. Vera and her late husband, Duke Crowe, always found time to help their fellow workers. She was a waitress, one of the most important people in any tourism economy. I remember stopping at the lunch counter in the Fremont Hotel to enjoy a cup of coffee with her and Duke. Her customers knew her and sought her out to be their waitress.

Visiting with the two of them our conversations always turned to fishing at Willow Beach or what should be done to help the culinary workers of Southern Nevada. When the National Park Service moved to close the facilities at Willow Beach, the Crowes took it as a personal insult. Vera and Duke Crowe were the kind of Nevadans who helped make living better for working people and also made ours a booming economy.

The working people of Southern Nevada should be proud of everything they have accomplished, from the building of Hoover Dam to the building of the world's biggest and best hotels. The workers who built the hotels and supporting roads and highways during the extreme heat of our summers are very special men and women. Just as important and dedicated are the men and women who staff the hotels, teach our children, protect us from criminals, deliver the mail and our newspapers, provide us with needed utilities and make possible a more comfortable life for us and our families.

The workers of our community, state and nation deserve our respect because they have earned it during both good and bad times.

Mike O'Callaghan

is the Las Vegas Sun executive editor.