Another Labor Day has come and gone. To many of us, its passing signals the end of long summer days and the transition into autumn weather before its meteorological appearance. But thinking about Labor Day’s roots in the country’s labor movement of the 19th century can add another dimension to its meaning for Americans today.
The reality of daily life for workers in the United States has changed dramatically since 1882, when the first Labor Day was observed by about 10,000 laborers in New York City. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics website, bls.gov, 12.3 percent of wage and salary workers belonged to unions in 2009. In 1983, in contrast, the first year in which comparable data are available, the union membership rate was 20.1 percent.
With more jobs being supplied by small businesses, and recession-driven reductions in jobs and benefits at the larger employers, unions have lost some of their wider effect on the private sector. Even government employees at the state level who are unionized have had to face layoffs or reductions in hours or pay, and they will have to face more if state budgets are to be balanced.
The national unemployment rate remains at 9.6 percent, so there were too many Americans who found themselves without work this Labor Day. For those who have been jobless for many months, continued unemployment payments may help pay the bills, but they don’t fill empty days and frustration over underused skills and talents. And those payments are insufficient to support a family over the long term.
It will take some creative and very original thinking on the part of this country’s entrepreneurs to find ways to create new jobs that will lift the U.S. economy out of its funk. Those ground-breakers will need support and encouragement from those at all levels of government, local, state and federal, if they are to succeed. Let’s hope those running for office, and those remaining in office, thought hard this Labor Day about those of their constituents who are unemployed or underemployed, or who are struggling to support their families by working two or three part-time jobs with no benefits.
Workers need to find some new hope, again, just as they did in 1882 when they created Labor Day out of a movement that valued their skills and their safety at work. Maybe for the 21st century, we should change the name of the holiday to Entrepreneur’s Day, or Create a New Business Day, to make it more relevant to the world as it is now.
Justine and Victor Valla in their studio with a painting of Victor’s,”Jonah and the Whale.” Robin Roraback 
A ceramic vase by Kathleen Heidemann.Provided 
Joy Brown’s delightful ceramic sculptures.Provided 
