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As we celebrate Labor Day in the United States or Labour Day in Canada, we should remember that this weekend signals more than the end of summer or the start of school.
Regardless of whether you spell it Labor or Labour, it is a day dedicated to honoring the men and women who fought the battles for the rights and privileges that we enjoy today. It is also a day to honor the continuing struggles of workers in both nations. Celebrated for the first time nationally in 1894 in both the United States and Canada, Labor Day celebrates the eight-hour workday and the fight against sweatshops, as well as the enactment of child labor laws, workplace safety laws, and a slew of other worker-protection laws. "Labor Day differs in every essential from the other holidays of the year in any country," said Samuel Gompers, first president of the AFL-CIO. And so it does. Workers this weekend, both union and non-union, have many reasons to thank the labor movement. Social Security, child labor laws, OSHA standards, the eight-hour workday, and other worker protections that we take for granted just didnt happen. Unions took the lead and members fought, sometimes against tremendous odds, for what now seems to be common decency and common sense. "Pause for a moment this weekend and thank those who fought the battles before us and then resolve to not let those battles be in vain as we move forward," said President Ed Hill.
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