Labor Day’s Legacy – And Future

This weekend most of us will enjoy a long, three-day respite from work. But before you fire up the grill or enjoy the last days at the pool, let us look at why we celebrate Labor Day in the U.S.

Labor Day. The first Monday of September and the unofficial end of summer. Growing up, this was the last weekend when our neighborhood pool was open. I remember packing a cooler full of fruit and snacks with my dad and splashing the weekend away. Monday was reserved for barbecue and rest. We could sleep in and looked forward to the festivities of a Midwestern fall.

This weekend the same remains – but with the excitement that only a geriatric millennial can muster, i.e. brunch with friends followed by an at-home facial and the latest documentary on Netflix. I am still looking forward to the fall while also reflecting on the summer’s end.

Within this reflection, I am reminded of the origins of Labor Day and its connection to the labor movement for worker’s rights.

Picture it: the late 19th century. The United States is in the throes of the Industrial Revolution where harsh working conditions for low wage, non-land-owning white Americans abound. Black, Brown, and Indigenous workers faced similar conditions where a lack of safety was normative. However, because of their racial and ethnic groupings, BIPOC people were often excluded from factory work as well as their subsequent unions.

All low-wage earners contributed to the significant economic growth of the U.S. as a nation, however the benefits of this newfound affluence did not make it into the hands of the masses. The gap between the haves and the have-nots increased significantly. With the assent of the Rockefellers, Vanderbilt, Carnegies, and Fords, so too was the invention of the nameless working and poverty classes.

Enter the New York City Central Labor Union, which organized the first Labor Day parade on September 5, 1882. CLU members took unpaid time off to march to Union Square from City Hall as a showcase of the strength, power, and unity of the labor movement. Their demand: eight-hour working days, weekends off, and better working conditions. It was not until 12 years later, after a financially disruptive nationwide railroad strike, when in 1894 Congress federally recognized Labor Day.

Of course, there were still issues as the labor movement moved into the 20th century. Leaders of civil rights encouraged economic freedoms in conjunction with gender and race equity. Notably, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated while organizing alongside striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tenn., via the SNCC Poor People’s Campaign.

Today, economic disparities still abound. The wealthiest 1 percent of U.S. households hold more wealth than the bottom 50 percent combined. The top 10 percent of earners make significantly more than the bottom 90 percent of U.S. workers. Race, gender, ability, and access continue to compound these issues, making them intersectional and inextricably linked to one another.

It is often said that we all exist in the context of the history that came before us. So, today, this weekend, as we pack our coolers, sit by the pool, head to brunch, or enjoy a relaxing day off at home, let us recall the importance of the holiday. That it started as a protest of unjust, unfair, and inequitable working conditions that many non-land-owning people experienced.

The question now becomes: what are we as inclusive leaders, on the dawn of the AI-version of industrial revolution, going to do next?

Photo by Ahsanization ッ on Unsplash