According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the day is “dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers”. Just this year, almost 40,000 Verizon workers went on strike after the utility company threatened pension cuts and the possibility of more outsourcing.
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This Labor Day, pause to thank the American workers of past, present and future.
On Sept. 5, 1882, a group of union laborers gathered in New York City for the first parade of its kind.
When labor unions rose to prominence in the United States in the nineteenth century, workers banded together to start the long march toward work and industrial justice that continues to this day.
We must keep in mind to be vigilant in our efforts to make sure that the rights that workers have are protected and strengthened.
This article was originally published within the Nyack Library’s Did You Know Series on September 7, 2015. “It is because of workers who agitated – and the unions who had their backs – that we enjoy numerous protections we often take for granted today, including overtime pay, a minimum wage, and the right to organize for better pay and benefits”, it said.
Most employers will be giving their employees a paid holiday on September 5 as part of a great American tradition.
During the last few years, initiatives created to lower labor standards, weaken unions, and erode workplace protections have been launched.
Though Labor Day is often thought of as an American tradition, its origins are actually Canadian and go back to 1872. There are another 600,000 federal workers who are union members, but don’t have collective bargaining rights for pay or benefits.
With our voices and our votes let us show support of organized labor and necessary measures to strengthen unions. In the end, 30 people were killed at the hands of the US military and the U.S marshals and striker violence caused $80 million in damages.
Regardless of how we mark the day, though, the contributions of American workers can not be underestimated. The federal government relied on military intervention to end that strike, and violent confrontations killed 30 workers. That brought to a close the practices of companies replacing older workers with school-age children and families forcing their children to quit school to begin work at an early age.
And there is work for those people. Since then, it has been embraced as a relaxing day to soak up the last bits of summer. They work hard each day to insure that all Florida workers are treated fairly and given access to opportunities in employment and are not subject to unlawful discrimination.
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Still, the holiday does have some meaning as we recognize those of us who have “carved out all the grandeur we behold”.
