The Los Angeles Times has a lovely and respectful obituary today for Harry Bernstein, the legendary labor reporter and columnist who was hired for that paper by Otis Chandler. Harry died earlier this week after a long illness. Even though Chandler was never accused of being the working person's friend, according to today's obit, the editors at the LAT in the 1960s thought that it was important for their readers to understand the economy that was transforming around them, and to get that perspective from Bernstein.

Harry was a true authority on the beat--he could challenge any and every union president but he also found time to write about the every day struggles of working people. He was often accompanied by his wife Joanne, a former Textile Workers Union organizer. After he left the beat, the LAT replaced him with several reporters through the years. But in the end, Harry outlived the beat he helped create.

For almost two decades, the labor beat has been disintegrating as newspapers either cut back or they decide that labor unions are no longer relevant enough to hold their own on a beat. (one of those still covering labor is Harry's son, Aaron, who writes for Business Week).

Yet, at a time when gigantic immigrants' rights rallies are challenging Congress to change the laws, when health care coverage is still an issue, when work and family balancing is still up for grabs, and when we are trying to figure out what a living wage is, what workers can live on minimally, the shape of the new economy, and even what we as a nation will make and grow in this globalized economy, it would be good to find another Harry Bernstein or two on the pages of our newspapers. (and there still are a few enterprising labor reporters, but you can practically count them on one hand-like Steve Greenhouse of the New York Times and Steve Franklin of the Chicago Tribune (parent company of Otis Chandler's LAT). Rest in peace Harry--you deserve it.