Workers of the World

(Photo from http://jjorg.chem.unc.edu/lab/Images/Vegas2001/DamWorkerStatue.jpg)
A lot of Americans tend to think there's something suspect about a statue that celebrates the worker. After all, hasn't it always been socialist and communist countries that give the common worker his (or her) due in heroic monuments with ideal types facing the wind, raising their heads and hands to the nation? Aside from mythical workers like John Henry and Baul Bunyan, though, what have this nation's sculptors offered in the way of public art that actually celebrates the ordinary worker?
I ran across this statue in a websearch for American workers, and was instantly taken with the concept. The piece is at Hoover Dam and pictures a guy named Joe Kine who was the last "high scaler" on the dam. It was actually created from a picture of him at work and was sponsored by the vendors at the Dam who wanted to pay tribute to the guys who did the dirty work. It's now outside the "High Scaler Cafe"- a place that most of the guys would probably have loved to frequent.