On the first Monday of September, Americans observe Labor Day. Today, most celebrate the holiday as the official end of summer, to be celebrated with picnics, family gatherings and street parades. But it is first and foremost a day to honor the country’s workers and their contribution to the prosperity of the United States.
Through much of the second half of the 19th century and continuing through the first quarter of the 20th, these men and women fought hard for the rights many of us take for granted today. Thanks to them, we have a five day, 40-hour work week, safer work conditions, paid time off when we are sick or when we need time to rest and relax. They understood that children should be spending their days in school, preparing for a better future, not pulling bins in coal mines, or picking the harvest in fields, or sweeping the floors in steel mills.
“My father taught me from a young age that a job is about much more than a paycheck,” said President Joe Biden. “It is about dignity, respect, and your place in the community. It is about being able to look your children in the eye and assure them that things are going to be okay. When Americans go to work each day, they are not just making a living — they are pursuing a life with hope for the future. In doing so, they build, drive, care for, and grow our Nation.”
From the earliest days of the movement, labor leaders understood that without economic freedom for the working class, there would be no freedom or liberty for the majority of Americans. They understood that only by acting in unison, combining their efforts and voices through one campaign and protest and strike after another would they win the fair pay, decent working conditions and dignity that they deserved.
“Hard-working Americans are the backbone of our country,” said President Biden. “The middle class built America — and unions built the middle class. Everything that supports a sustainable middle-class life was made possible by unions, and on Labor Day we honor all those workers — and their enduring movement — that keep our economy moving and make our Nation strong.”
