I have mixed feelings about this. I'd like to believe that the market mechanisms reward hard work and diligence, but as a member of the US workforce I see things differently. Hard-working individuals often lose out to those with better ass-kissing skills than working skills. Diligent workers still get laid-off if they approach a salary range deemed "too excessive." Older workers who have withstood the tests of time and change are laid-off simply as political shows of strength and bottom-line economics. The Republican rule of the last half-century has yielded attacks on pension plans, age recrimination, and job security. Granted, the Dems haven't exactly done anything more than help the Repubs raise taxes, so they're to blame too. Perhaps we need Labor Day to represent a return of the contract between business and labor where both prospered and not just the pinnacle of management.
The first American Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, and very soon acquired a political connotation.
Samuel Gompers, founder and longtime president of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) said: "Labor Day differs in every essential way from the other holidays. Most other holidays are connected with conflicts and battles of man's prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another. Labor Day is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race or nation."
Samuel Gompers, founder and longtime president of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) said: "Labor Day differs in every essential way from the other holidays. Most other holidays are connected with conflicts and battles of man's prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another. Labor Day is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race or nation."
In fact, Labor Day is a creation of the American labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes an annual national tribute to contributions workers have made to the prosperity of the country.
Not long after the first Labor Day, marked with parades by the Knights of Labor in New York City, national agitation began to reduce workers daily job time to a maximum of eight hours from the back breaking, dawn 'til dusk hours so many laborers had been forced to work.
National campaigns were underway to restrict rampant use of child labor, to provide safe working places and to raise low wages. Business resisted such reforms and these demands were portrayed as alien, radical, even un-American ideas stemming from the large number of European immigrants pouring into the U.S. through Ellis Island.
The "Haymarket Riot" Fails to Achieve Their Goal
During a nationwide strike for the eight hour workday that began on May 1, 1886, a mass meeting was held in the Chicago Haymarket. The meeting was held to protest the police action of the previous day that killed several workers.
When police ordered the peaceful protest meeting to disperse, an unknown person threw a bomb and killed several police officers. This sensational event became known as the "Haymarket Riot." And when this riot ended, the eight hour day movement was discredited in the nationwide hysteria. Only decades later would this goal be achieved.
Not long after the first Labor Day, marked with parades by the Knights of Labor in New York City, national agitation began to reduce workers daily job time to a maximum of eight hours from the back breaking, dawn 'til dusk hours so many laborers had been forced to work.
National campaigns were underway to restrict rampant use of child labor, to provide safe working places and to raise low wages. Business resisted such reforms and these demands were portrayed as alien, radical, even un-American ideas stemming from the large number of European immigrants pouring into the U.S. through Ellis Island.
The "Haymarket Riot" Fails to Achieve Their Goal
During a nationwide strike for the eight hour workday that began on May 1, 1886, a mass meeting was held in the Chicago Haymarket. The meeting was held to protest the police action of the previous day that killed several workers.
When police ordered the peaceful protest meeting to disperse, an unknown person threw a bomb and killed several police officers. This sensational event became known as the "Haymarket Riot." And when this riot ended, the eight hour day movement was discredited in the nationwide hysteria. Only decades later would this goal be achieved.
With the Haymarket riot, president Grover Cleveland, a rare Democrat in the White House in those days, decided to assuage this tension with a holiday. He believed that a May 1st holiday, already being celebrated in European nations, might become an opportunity to commemorate the riots and strengthen the socialist movement. In 1887, he supported the Knights of Labor and their date for Labor Day. And thus it has been ever since.
Labor Unions Lose Their Cache
With continuing relative prosperity, labor unions in the United States have declined in membership and political influence.
Traditionally supportive of Democrats, Ronald Reagan converted may blue collar unionist into "Reagan Democrats" by emphasizing family values, opposition to gun control, anti-Communist and a strong U.S. defense posture.
Union "leaders" often have been at odds with the political views of the rank and file. Both my late father and brother were long time union members and they, like most union members, made up their own minds politically.
Politics aside, the philosophical basis we should recognize is that physical labor is both honorable and rewarding. It is also socially defining. Indeed, it is an American habit upon first meeting to ask: "What do you do?" - meaning what's your job, how do you earn your money?
Modern-Day Robin Hood Lies
The modern welfare state and the politicians that promote socialism preach the lie that there is a free lunch, that you can get something for nothing.
"Vote for me and I'll take from the rich and give to you (poor suckers)," they promise, with all the bluster of modern-day Robin Hoods. They forget Proverbs 14:23 that tells us that: "In all labor there is profit, but idle chatter leads only to poverty."
Honest work gives us learning, wisdom and provides solid life experience. It allows us to discipline our minds, to learn and acquire useful skills.
Without useful work, we can end up spending our lives in mindless labor without much pay or recognition. Proverbs 12:24 also tells us: "The hand of the diligent will rule, but the lazy man will be put to forced labor."
Labor should be honored collectively, but more importantly, in our own lives individually.
That's the way that it looks from here.
Labor Unions Lose Their Cache
With continuing relative prosperity, labor unions in the United States have declined in membership and political influence.
Traditionally supportive of Democrats, Ronald Reagan converted may blue collar unionist into "Reagan Democrats" by emphasizing family values, opposition to gun control, anti-Communist and a strong U.S. defense posture.
Union "leaders" often have been at odds with the political views of the rank and file. Both my late father and brother were long time union members and they, like most union members, made up their own minds politically.
Politics aside, the philosophical basis we should recognize is that physical labor is both honorable and rewarding. It is also socially defining. Indeed, it is an American habit upon first meeting to ask: "What do you do?" - meaning what's your job, how do you earn your money?
Modern-Day Robin Hood Lies
The modern welfare state and the politicians that promote socialism preach the lie that there is a free lunch, that you can get something for nothing.
"Vote for me and I'll take from the rich and give to you (poor suckers)," they promise, with all the bluster of modern-day Robin Hoods. They forget Proverbs 14:23 that tells us that: "In all labor there is profit, but idle chatter leads only to poverty."
Honest work gives us learning, wisdom and provides solid life experience. It allows us to discipline our minds, to learn and acquire useful skills.
Without useful work, we can end up spending our lives in mindless labor without much pay or recognition. Proverbs 12:24 also tells us: "The hand of the diligent will rule, but the lazy man will be put to forced labor."
Labor should be honored collectively, but more importantly, in our own lives individually.
That's the way that it looks from here.
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