Today is Labor Day. It
is a day when people in the United States pay tribute to all the
things American workers have given to our country. I just want to
discourage any type of humor that associates this day with women
having children. We already have a day for that event. It's called
Mother's Day. Labor Day is a holiday with a long and interesting
history.
Below are excerpts from
a story about Labor Day from History Magazine. My valuable insights
are in italics.
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’
wages.
Isn't it interesting
how many workers today still work 12 hours daily during every day of
every week to make a living? I think it's called working in retail
as well as the restaurant industry and more. The 1800s world was the
world where my grandfathers immigrated to the United States and
experienced life here. It's upsetting to know that greedy capitalists back
then ignored restrictions and had children of kindergarten age
working in mills. It's not something known for happening today.
Children that age are now using the television, the computer and
more for 12 hours a day.
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 conditions and compel employers to
renegotiate hours and pay.
The workers told them,
you may be greedy capitalists, but you need to be greedy capitalists
who provide safe working conditions and decent wages. Your greed
gets a lot of money, and we want more of it. The greedy capitalists
then refused. They asked what part of being a greedy capitalist did the workers
not understand. The workers told the greedy capitalists they would
strike. The greedy capitalists then said we won't pay you. The
workers said okay, but you won't have anything to sell to your
customers so you won't get paid. That got the attention of the
greedy capitalists who went to their vacation resorts to think things
over.
Many of these events
turned violent during this period, including the infamous Haymarket
Riot of 1886, in which several Chicago policemen and
workers were killed. Others gave rise to longstanding traditions: On
September 5, 1882, 10,000 workers took unpaid time off to march from
City Hall to Union Square in New York City, holding the
first Labor Day parade in U.S. history.
The greedy capitalists
were willing to have local authorities break up the strikes. They
believed the workers would be scared and run back to their dangerous
and poorly paying jobs rather than face the authorities. The workers
believed these greedy capitalists couldn't be wealthy without them.
Every day of their life they faced dangerous working conditions for
poor pay. Authorities trying to scare them into doing anything made
the workers laugh and then angry. With their dangerous lives, the workers
weren't afraid of anything. Our nation's history is filled with
violent clashes between unions, greedy capitalists and authorities.
It is heart-warming to think of thousands of workers willingly
marching in 1882 to honor workers. I would like to point out we
don't have any holiday parades to honor greedy capitalists.
The idea of a
“workingman's holiday,” celebrated on the first Monday in
September caught on in other industrial centers across the country,
and many states passed legislation recognizing it. Congress would not
legalize the holiday until 12 years later, when a watershed moment in
American labor history brought workers’ rights squarely into the
public’s view.
It's good to know the
first Monday in September was designated as a workingman's holiday.
Things are a bit different today. My grandfathers worked in steel
mills. I was told they worked twelve hours a day for six days. On
the seventh day, they didn't rest, the mill workers would be on the
job for 24 hours straight for a shift change. I can't express my
deep-felt gratitude to my grandfathers who came here, didn't know the
language and worked so hard to provide a better life for our family.
I'm sure my family's story is one that is common among many, many
Americans. Now, our family even has some greedy capitalists. Things
do change over time.
Labor Day is still
celebrated in cities and towns across the United States with parades,
picnics, barbecues, fireworks displays, and other public gatherings.
For many Americans, particularly children and young adults, it
represents the end of the summer and the start of the back-to-school
season.
I enjoy the Labor Day
weekend. Many people have a day off from work and spend time
enjoying themselves. I like to also take time and give thanks to
some guys who came here in the late 1800s, not able to speak English,
and worked in hot and unsafe conditions for long hours for very
little money. They did this for their family so they could have a
better life. I like to sometimes refer to this as Labor Hero Day.
Here is a link to the
story.
https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/labor-day-1
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If you think THIS is a
little funny. Check out my book
The Longer You Live The
Older You Get
Or my other one
I Speak Cursive Like a
Baby Boomer
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