My grandfather, we call him Papa, was a machinist for a big factory in Kansas City that made jet engines. He was a member of the IAM, the machinists union and he lived in company housing with my grandma and their young children. He worked nights and my grandma worked at a grocery store all day so they could build their first house. He would work nights at the factory, work on the house during the day, and then did dinner with the kids when my grandma was at work. Papa was always very proud of being a machinist, and said that he even got to work on the space backpack for NASA. My Papa’s strong work ethic was something that lasted him into old age, and doing something that you can take pride in is something that has always stuck with me. Natalie Patrick-Knox is a Campaign Organizer for Immigration and Workers’ Rights at Jobs With Justice...
Demos’ Amy Traub talks about her grandfathers, who were both successful small business owners in Cleveland, Ohio. As Amy explains, her grandfathers worked hard and earned a decent living and that helped teach her the importance of doing work that tries to protect that dream today. Amy Traub is a Senior Policy Analyst at...
My paternal grandparents Ed & Mary were dairy farmers and had an enormous garden. Cows have to be milked twice a day every day. No holidays! By the time grandpa would get all the cows milked early in the morning grandma would have a huge breakfast spread out on the country kitchen table. The labor was so demanding they both worked up quite an appetite by 8...
After returning to California from a long stint in Africa and Europe during World War II, my grandfather Chuck got a job as a motorcycle cop just south of Los Angeles. The dangerous aspects of the job upset my grandmother (MaryAnne), and when she became pregnant (with my mom), she insisted they move back to their families in Sacramento. Once there, he became an electrician, joining his IBEW local. Each day, he would go to his union hall and hope he and his colleagues would find their names on a job board, so he had work – and pay. But it wasn’t consistent. His 1946 tax return shows that he was paid by seven different electrical companies and contractors. As time went on and as my mom and her sister (my aunt) got older, my grandmother got her teaching certificate and started teaching elementary school, like her mother before her. Beyond loving teaching, my grandmother knew the family needed more stable income. My grandfather suffered a mild heart attack and a serious fall on a job, both of which eventually meant that he had to quit working by the time he was in his 40s. But my grandmother kept on teaching, providing for her family. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that my mom became a teacher too. Hilary Woodward is a Senior Communications Strategist at Jobs With...
My grandmother lived in Washington, DC, where she worked for the federal government. She served for a long time as a secretary at the General Services Administration, and she later went to work as secretary to the head of the wage division of the Cost of Living Council. My dad recalls her going to work first thing in the morning and not getting off work until as late as 9 pm each night. When I think of my grandmother’s career, I think of the pride she took in her work as a public employee. I also think of how it helped enable her to provide for her family. She and my grandfather were able to raise my dad and my aunt in a modest, middle class home, where they could gain a good education. Michael is the Senior Policy Analyst at Jobs With Justice Photo via...
