The exact details of Labor Day’s founder may be shrouded in over a century and a half of history, but its modern legacy is by no means ambiguous. The legacy of this national holiday is in the unifying experience of a day off from work that all Americans can look forward to. Indeed, something we all have in common in these complicated times is our status as workers.
What makes us workers? Well, if you’re someone who has to work to put food on the table, you’re a worker, and you probably benefit from the labor movement and what it fought for.
Labor Day is a celebration of those who fought for our rights such as mandated breaks, child labor laws and the 40-hour work week. It can be easy to take these rights for granted. That’s why we celebrate the first Monday in September as Labor Day.
Labor Day, however, is also about the battle that is still ongoing to preserve the legacy of unions across the country. There was a time in this nation when– according to the Pew Research Center– nearly two American workers for every five counted themselves as members of a labor union. What this means is that the life that many of our parents and grandparents knew was one defined by the labor movement.
We live in a hopeful time for the movement, with successes beginning to edge out failures within corporations.
We invite you to take a moment this Labor Day to appreciate those who fought, and those who are still fighting without a uniform to protect our labor rights.
Andrew Martin is a political science major at St. Joseph’s College in Standish, Maine.