Everyday Canvas

Labor Day

Prompt: Labor or Labour Day... why is this a holiday? Does it have the same meaning as it did when it was declared a national holiday? What does it mean to you? Is it celebrated where you live?

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The reason for Labor Day is to pay tribute to the American workers. Labor movement, since the nineteenth century, has a dicey past with some violence and celebration mixed, through the instigation of the unions. Since an early September was chosen by the unions for a workers’ demonstration, its date was set as the first Monday in September. Labor Day’s difference from Mayday—May1 as the International Workers’ Day—is this: International Worker’s Day has to do with the demand for less work and more pay. Labor Day, on the other hand, celebrates the dignity of the working people.

Surely, Labor Day is celebrated where I am because it is a federal holiday. All government offices, schools and organizations and many businesses are closed, and there are festivities, fireworks etc. Where I am, it is usually a quiet event, meaning a few sales, possibly a parade or a picnic. That it is also the beginning of the football season gets more attention than the American Labor. This holiday is also celebrated in Canada, but I don’t know all that much about the history of labor in Canada.

What it means to me is its confusion. One never knows which businesses are open and which ones honor the holiday. Since private businesses are usually open, how it is considered a workers’ holiday passes me by. Aren’t the people who work in private businesses workers, too?

Then, just this morning, the Non-Farm Employment Report came as less than what was estimated. So this year, it feels hypocritical to me to celebrate the Labor Day, when the powers that be have made it possible the deportation of the jobs out of the country, the very jobs that our workers so desperately want and need.