What Would King Do?

So, what are you doing on Martin Luther King Day? A lot of people have the day “Off” from work; government is shut down, schools closed. A lot of private business and industry shut down for the day. You have the decision to make: Are you going to lay up and enjoy a three day weekend or are you going to follow Dr. King’s example and work for a better society for all?
If you’re one of the lucky ones who have a job to get a holiday from, it’s a chance to advance the cause of freedom and social justice. It’s an opportunity to be free from your everyday work and do something for your community. It might be attending an event in the community that remembers King’s legacy and taking your kids or grandkids to it with you. It might be as little as doing some online research on a social issue to become better informed as how to fix this general mess America is in.
King worked long and hard to advance the cause of civil and economic rights. He stood tall in defending the rights of working people, regardless of race or economic status. He understood that when we stand together, we stand strong and no social force can oppose the people for long. He would be in the street, or at the lectern, trying to make it better.
King strongly supported the right of workers to organize and collectively bargain for their rights on the job. He spoke out often on the need for unions and the benefits to society of an organized labor force. He understood that organized labor is the best vestige of defense against encroaching corporatism. He knew the devastating effects of the weakening of the power of those who do.
Why do we have holidays, or time off work? To enjoy the fruits of our labor, to spend time with family and friends, and to rest from the hard work we do. As humans, we need time to relax and to enjoy the company of those we love. With a few exceptions for those who perform needed services regardless of day or time, we can thank unions for this time away from our jobs. It wasn’t always like that.
Less than a hundred years ago, people worked six days a week, often 12, 14 or 16 hours a day, often for little pay or benefits. It was the unions that fought for and won the 40 hour work week. It was the unions that got things like health benefits, vacations, sick or personal days through the collective bargaining process. That process itself was bought with the sweat and blood of workers who secured the right to negotiate in a legally-binding contract that set the mutually beneficial limits on a particular job.
To this day, far too many businesses care more for money than the rights of those who make them their money and spend huge amounts of it to roll back the rights of workers, the rights Dr. King gave his life for. The result of this runaway greed is a society in shambles and an economy in the toilet.
What would Martin Luther King do with this day?