This post appeared originally in this space on August 31, 2011. It was re-purposed and presented again September 3, 2014, September 7, 2016, September 6, 2017, September 5, 2018, September 4, 2019, September 9, 2020, September 7, 2022, September 6, 2023, and again today, September 4, 2024.
As you know, Monday was Labor Day. As with most holidays, I knock it down a few notches so readers can enjoy their time off, and ease into a vintage post, if they so choose. At its core, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, Labor Day in the United States was designed to commemorate the creation of the labor movement; dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. The holiday focuses on contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.
First observed in September 1882, the event has always been observed on the first Monday of the month of September. Initiated by the Central Labor Union of New York, the celebration became a federal holiday in 1894.
In addition to its formal structure and purpose, Labor Day has several symbolic associations. It is considered:
The unofficial “End of Summer”
The last 3-Day warm weather weekend for vacationers
By High Society standards, the last day for which it is appropriate for women to wear white.
The beginning of the College Football Season
The last weekend before the start of the NFL Season
The conventional kick-off of the hard-core political campaign season
The culmination of back–to-School shopping
Labor Day also validates and recognizes an often-controversial mechanism that frequently divides American opinion: labor unions.
Scorned by many who fancy themselves as Free Enterprise Capitalists, unions and their members have not only been actively involved historically, in debates that framed public policy for American workers, they have won or forced hard-earned concessions that in the shimmering glow of reflective perspective, must be considered to have fundamentally altered the playing field (known as the workplace), including:
Pensions
Health Care Benefits
Paid Vacations
Equal Pay to women
The Development of Child Labor Laws
The 5-Day Work Week
The 40-Hour Work Week
The 8-Hour Workday
Worker’s Compensation benefits
Obtaining the right for Female Flight Attendants to marry
These and many other important cherished and beneficial employee rights are attributable to the efforts of the American Labor Movement. However, this post is not an ode to Labor Unions. For all their well-deserved accolades, unions also have downside effects. They can create or contribute to:
The potential for strikes
Additional costs to all employees (membership dues; whether a member or not)
Loss of individuality (ability to represent oneself in a grievance)
Subject employees to fines & discipline by the Union
Disincentives to productivity and competition
Lack of promotions
Burdensome salary demands (relative to the market)
Loss of profits (and/or pay) due to strikes.
Inefficient & ineffective contracts
Increased unemployment due to failure to reach agreement w/management.
The first Labor Day celebration was led by a Labor Union. The history of the Day has been linked, inextricably, with Labor organizations, ever since. But it is the American Worker the Day was intended to commemorate.
Meanwhile, contemplate, “Labor Day: It’s All About The Workers Redux ’24!” While we’ve got plenty of issues to temper our enthusiasm, we should still celebrate America’s Labor Movement, and the phenomenal workers it represents.
I’m done; holla back!
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For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult the links below:
https://thesphinxofcharlotte.com/2023/09/06/labor-day-its-all-about-the-workers-redux-23/
http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/2024/09/labor-day-its-all-about-workers-redux-24.html
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