Or what automated customer testing environments and Infrastructure as Code across private VMware cloud have to do with it?
Both have the workforce, employees, laborers, whatever name we want to call them today, in common.
River Point Technology values the mindset and mental health of its employees (So much so, that they sent us all to Cedar Point for a day!) The connection between the satisfied laborer and revenue is obvious, meaning we need to prioritize our employees’ skills, comfort, and opinions if we want to see true prosperity.
This holiday weekend, take a moment to acknowledge how Labor Day originated to ensure we- nor our clients- end up with an uproar like the infamous Haymarket Riot of 1886.
“The Haymarket Riot (also known as the “Haymarket Incident” and “Haymarket Affair”) occurred on May 4, 1886, when a labor protest rally near Chicago’s Haymarket Square turned into a riot after someone threw a bomb at police. At least eight people died as a result of the violence that day. The Haymarket Riot was viewed as a setback for the organized labor movement in America, which was fighting for rights like the eight-hour workday.
At the height of the Industrial Revolution in the United States, the average American worked 12-hour days and seven-day weeks to make a basic living. Children were found in the worst conditions and making a third of what their adult counterparts brought in.
People of all ages, particularly the very poor and recent immigrants, often faced extremely unsafe working conditions, with little access to fresh air, sanitary facilities, and breaks.
As manufacturing increased, so did the organization and voice of labor unions. These unions began to set up strikes and rallies to protest the poor conditions and convince employers to renegotiate hours and pay.
“Many of these events turned violent, including the infamous Haymarket Riot of 1886. Others gave rise to long standing traditions: On September 5, 1882, 10,000 workers took unpaid time off to march from City Hall to Union Square in New York City, holding the first Labor Day parade in U.S. history.”
It took four years from that bloody riot, until one union’s strike finally won the eight-hour day for its 28,000 members, setting precedent for others- but the victory wasn’t complete just yet.
As industrial centers across the country began to adopt the idea of a “workingmen’s holiday,” to be celebrated on the first Monday in September, many states passed legislation recognizing it too. However, congress would not legalize the holiday until 12 years later, when workers’ rights swarmed the public eye.
On May 11, 1894, employees of the Pullman Palace Car Company in Chicago went on strike to protest wage cuts and the firing of union representation.
Then, a month and a half later, the American Railroad Union organized a boycott of all Pullman railways.
Traffic around the country was crippled.
The Federal government responded by sending troops to Chicago, which inspired a flood of even more riots.
Congress sent in the troops, and at the same time, legislation passed the first Monday in September as a federal legal holiday to recognize and celebrate labor. This became one of the crucial pillars in American History that prioritized the well-being of our workers.
River Point Technology agrees with Anne Frank who said “whoever is happy, will make others happy too.” We understand the need for comfortable, safe, and efficient working conditions AND an environment that optimizes talent and resources.
All the concepts Labor Day is about.
A client of ours, who is one of the leading healthcare payment solutions providers connecting payers, healthcare providers, and members most cost-effectively and efficiently, was struggling with their workers spending more time and energy on projects that could run without their influence— if the right tools were put into place.
They knew the challenges faced with cost and duration of provisioning their on-premise infrastructure. And the employees knew full well their skills could be better utilized.
This client was smart. They too believed happy workers equals happy customers.
Our client needed automated customer testing environments and Infrastructure as Code across private VMware cloud.
Right away, our team recognized the need for Terraform Cloud with VMware vSphere Provider for rapid and consistent infrastructure deployments; in addition, to Self-Service provisioning of environment build-outs with Terraform and GitLab integration.
These solutions resulted in 5X reduction in deployment time and reduced a multi-day process down to less than one hour. This allowed employees to optimize their skills with other tasks and innovation. RPT also enabled the process to quickly onboard new customers and demonstrate new application features to existing customers in a repeatable way.
It didn’t take long before our client’s employees felt the shift in their working conditions and were finally able to do their best job.
Like the Haymarket Riot of 1886 proved, unhappy employees can lead to the demolition of greatness.
More importantly, the contrary is equally true.
If an employer optimizes the workers’ well-being and skill set, like our client did, their staff feels valued, works more efficiently and in the end increases revenue. Like Anne said, “Whoever is happy, will make others happy too.”
Happy Labor Day to all! Thank you for your hard work, dedication, and direct contributions to the growth and goals you have influenced.
These results are not guaranteed and each circumstance has its own challenges, goals and accomplishments to achieve