Celebration of a Movement Republicans have dissed for decades
Today is Labor Day. Most of us now see the day as the unofficial end of summer— rather than a federal holiday to commemorate the contribution of organized labor to our social fabric. Over the last half century more and more wealth has concentrated at the top thanks to Republican success at trashing labor unions, reducing marginal tax rates for corporations and the wealthy, and nearly eliminating estate taxes. Much of this has been accomplished with disingenuous (even if also meanly ingenious) propaganda campaigns like “right-to-work” and promoting sympathy for cutting estate taxes (for the wealthy) by citing inheritance of “family” farms. We would do well to remember why Labor Day was established. What follows is a quote from the Wikipedia article, Labor Day. The whole article is a refresher course worth the read:
Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United States. The three-day weekend it falls on is called Labor Day Weekend.
Beginning in the late 19th century, as the trade union and labor movements grew, trade unionists proposed that a day be set aside to celebrate labor. “Labor Day” was promoted by the Central Labor Union and the Knights of Labor, which organized the first parade in New York City. In 1887, Oregon was the first state of the United States to make it an official public holiday. By the time it became an official federal holiday in 1894, thirty states in the U.S. officially celebrated Labor Day.
Keep to the high ground,
Jerry