The Laborer – Well Done

You may think of Labor Day, as so many of us do, as marking the end of summer and the beginning of the new school year. But that was not how Labor Day started or what it celebrated. According to History.com, Labor Day is an “annual celebration of workers and their achievements, that was originated during one of American labor history’s most dismal chapters.”

“In the late 1800s, at the height of the Industrial Revolution in the United States, the average American worked 12-hour days and seven-day weeks in order to eke out a basic living. Despite restrictions in some states, children as young as 5 or 6 toiled in mills, factories and mines across the country, earning a fraction of their adult counterparts’ wages.

People of all ages, particularly the very poor and recent immigrants, often faced extremely unsafe working conditions, with insufficient access to fresh air, sanitary facilities and breaks.

As manufacturing increasingly supplanted agriculture as the wellspring of American employment, labor unions, which had first appeared in the late 18th century, grew more prominent and vocal. They began organizing strikes and rallies to protest poor conditions and compel employers to renegotiate hours and pay.

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.

The idea of a “workingmen’s holiday,” celebrated on the first Monday in September, caught on in other industrial centers across the country, and many states passed legislation recognizing it. “

So if you are wondering what Labor Day its really all about the answer can easily be found on the website of the U.S. Department of Labor:
“American labor has raised the nation’s standard of living and contributed to the greatest production the world has ever known and the labor movement has brought us closer to the realization of our traditional ideals of economic and political democracy. It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation pays tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation’s strength, freedom, and leadership – the American worker.”

So to everyone who currently labors, or who has labored in the past for a living, we say “thank you” and “Well Done”!

Now go enjoy your hot dog and some Million Dollar Dip!