Videographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014.

The Cleveland Orchestra will now begin their world tour. Friday night they will be in London performing at the Prince Albert Hall. I wish them a great tour.

“Hope gives people courage.”   —President Barak Obama

     Cleveland Orchestra at their summer home at Blossom Music Center

                                                                                                               Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio

                                                                                                                                     Blossom Music Center, Cleveland, Ohio 

                 Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2

    Cleveland Orchestra performing Brahms at Blossom Music Center

                                                                                                                     Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014

                                                                                                                    Audience at Labor Day Concert at Blossom Music Center

                                                                                                                     Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014 

Happy Labor Day to all of my readers whether you celebrate Labor Day or not. You all work hard to support your families and to provide for your children. It isn’t easy to get up every day and punch a clock; to work all day at jobs you may enjoy or you may not. Kudos to everyone of you. Labor Day was made a holiday here in America to honor the millions of workers who build our streets and bridges, who build our cars and keep our society running. In the early 1900’s factories worked people hard. We had sweat shops here. Children were forced to work 12 to 20 hours a day. And they all worked for cents per day. This is why we now have child work laws, to prevent this abuse. America finally decided that it was wrong for the children to be working like this. They deserved better…they deserved an education.

My Croatian grandfather immigrated to America and learned English and became a tool and die maker. He told me they weren’t allowed to use the restrooms during the work day. He would list for me all the inhuman things that factory owners thought were right for the workers to do. Like today, the wealthy looked down upon the poor and the working poor. He helped to start unions in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. Unions improved the lives of workers a great deal.

I admit that over time, unions attracted some less than moral people. So corruption found a home. State governments began to try to break the unions. We need the unions to protect the workers. We need the unions to ensure full time workers are making enough to be out of poverty. Forty hours of work a week should keep people out of poverty. I have no problem with rich people, I just feel no one should live in poverty. Right now, in 2014, there are 16 million children living in poverty here in the richest country in the world. This is so wrong.