09.05.2022
Historically, at least in my lifetime, this long weekend has been about family, friends, cookouts, fireworks, beer, lake life, NASCAR, and MAYBE a few thoughts about how this holiday came about. Shame on me. It's about so much more.
In the late 1800s, at the height of the Industrial Revolution in the United States, the average American worked 12-hour days and seven-day weeks in order to eke out a basic living. Despite restrictions in some states, children as young as 5 or 6 toiled in mills, factories and mines across the country, earning a fraction of their adult counterparts.
As manufacturing increasingly supplanted agriculture as the wellspring of American employment, labor unions, which had first appeared in the late 18th century, grew more prominent and vocal. They began organizing strikes and rallies to protest poor working conditions and to compel employers to renegotiate hours and pay.
Today, particularly since our recent pandemic, our society has so many more opportunities than folks did a hundred years ago. So, improved conditions, options of working from home, much safer working conditions, and equal opportunities. Women and men both can take time off to be with newborns, without the possibility of retribution from their employer. Health provisions. OSHA rules. Wow.
So today, tip your hats to those that came before us that fought, successfully, for our rights we have now. And be proud.
Thank you for stopping in, and have a safe & happy Labor Day.
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