Do you know why we have Labor Day as a national holiday?
This federal celebration to honor America’s workers has an antecedent in the Pullman Strike of 1894. The strike began as a dispute among non-union factory laborers and their boss George Pullman.
Pullman built overnight luxury railcars in his factory town of Pullman, Illinois (on the south side of Chicago). Wikipedia says when Pullman’s company laid off workers and lowered wages [due to a depression] the boss-landlord refused to lower the rents and utilities on his workers’ houses. Concurrently, he forbid the laborers from owning homes!
Eventually these workers found an ally in the American Railway Union and its leader Eugene V. Debs. The ARU called for a national boycott against the movement of Pullman cars on railroads. It stopped most rail travel west of Detroit and involved 250,000 workers in 27 states. The boycott also stopped delivery of the U.S. mail, which President Grover Cleveland used as a lawful reason to send out the Army to bust up the troublemakers. When the dust settled 30 people were dead, 50 were injured, and there was over $80 million dollars in damages.
To calm down workers and union organizations, President Cleveland and Congress rushed through legislation to make Labor Day a national holiday. Since then, our country has had a holiday on the first Monday in September.
Labor Day Fun Exercise
Over this Labor Day weekend, I don’t think many Americans will toast the laborers who make our country function so well. Usually citizens just use the holiday to travel and salute summer’s end with hamburgers and hotdogs.
For a fun exercise this Labor Day weekend, think about the workers whose labor has provided you with all your modern stuff: cellphones, computers, utilities, entertainment, medical care, etc. Look at the label to see where your shirt was made. Check out where your grilled chicken and barbecue sauce came from. What about those paper plates and napkins? When you fill up the car at the gas pump, remember some trucker transported that gas to the station. And who pulled out the oil from the ground?
By doing such intentional thinking you may realize you are more interdependent with other laborers than you’ve ever realized. Add up all those workers who have imprinted your daily life and you might fill up a football stadium or two. The point is no one is an island. We’re really more like bees in a global hive.
Work Shown Through Photos
Below are a few photos of workers, who have recently crossed my path. Thanks to all of them for their hard work.
