HOLIDAYS fall into two categories: those that warrant a day off from work, and those than don’t. Obviously, one category tends to mean more to us than the other. Only as an afterthought do we actually stop and think about why these holidays exist. And so it follows that Labor Day, a day established to honor American workers, no longer stands as a symbol of America’s history of labor activism or of the struggle to gain workers’ rights. Instead, Labor Day has come to be characterized by beer, burgers and one last long weekend at the beach.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Labor Day is a holiday “dedicated to the social and economic achievements of the American worker.” It is about celebrating the champions of the forty-hour (or more) work week who otherwise rarely receive recognition for their work. Excessively patriotic rhetoric aside, Labor Day is meant to allow us all time to contemplate what it means to work for a living in this country and to honor those who endure the nine-to-five each day.
The holiday, however, has instead come to stand for comparatively superficial events. For some teenagers, it is the last weekend to party before school starts. For students at the University who were forced to trudge to class as usual, Labor Day should have been a day off. Even for American workers themselves, the holiday represents a short extension of the weekend, perhaps a last opportunity to balance the checkbook or finish up some errands. For a number of employees, including many of those at the University, Labor Day is just another work day. A holiday once filled with parades, politics and demonstrations of support for workers’ rights, Labor Day now comes and goes without much fanfare at all, save for a couple of fireworks.
Labor Day is nothing but an opportunity for a cookout and a nap by the pool, despite the fact that this year, it falls right before a presidential election in a year marked by recession and unemployment, by calls for universal healthcare and a continued increase in minimum wage. It has come to represent the end of the summer season, the last farewell to the past three months of barbecues, swimsuits and travel. It is time that Labor Day is recognized as more than a day off, that students are taught the meaning and intent of the holiday, and that employers do more to recognize those who make up their workforce.
According to the Department of Labor, a national Labor Day was enacted in 1894 after a number of individual states had already adopted the holiday in honor of American workers. PBS’s version of the history of Labor Day contains a few more dirty details. The PBS production Online NewsHour credits the New York City labor union strike for originating a national pro-labor movement that ultimately resulted in President Grover Cleveland enacting a national law establishing the holiday. Regardless of which historical version you choose to embrace, the overarching point is that Labor Day arose out of a necessity to recognize the importance of an underappreciated workforce.
Today’s version of Labor Day is a sorry memorial to such historical efforts. For many, Labor Day no longer even means a day off. The University’s Human Resources Web site included a message to employees reading, “Most University offices will need to be open on Labor Day because classes are held on that day.” Although those employees required to work were awarded compensatory pay, the spirit and intention of Labor Day were shuffled aside in order to make sure the students, who work part-time jobs or don’t work at all, were accommodated.
Labor Day should not simply be about taking a day to relax and enjoy a hotdog or going to work in order to catch up on that pile of papers sitting on your desk. It should be recognized as a legitimate holiday celebrating the nation’s most vital constituency. It should be filled with speeches and proposals recognizing laborers’ contributions to society and advocating for the interests of workers around the country. Private companies and yes, even colleges and universities, should be required to provide their employees paid leave or to at least provide them additional bonuses and benefits for working during a holiday. Secondary school students should be exposed to Labor Day’s history and purpose so they have a better understanding of exactly what they are celebrating. The Department of Labor and other federal institutions should recognize the validity of labor strikes and unions throughout American history, for too often those words are considered taboo and omitted from the national vocabulary.
So next year, whether you’re reclining on the beach soaking up the last of the summer sun, walking begrudgingly to an 8:00 class, or driving into work to cram in some extra hours, stop and think. This holiday exists for a reason — in fact, it exists for millions of reasons, and it is time to recognize each and every one of them.
Amelia Meyer’s column appears Fridays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at a.meyer@cavalierdaily.com.
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