The irony of Labor Day is probably lost on many, but as for me and mine, we recognize that Labor Day is, in itself, a sham. What Labor Day recognizes is ultimately undermined by who works and who doesn’t.
Those privileged with the average 9-5 workdays and full weekends are free to spend time with their families, barbecuing in the backyard, going to the lake, etc. As for the rest of working class society – those who work in businesses like restaurants, retail stores and factory floors – they’re still required to go to work. Not to mention those serving in the military, our first responders, doctors and nurses and everyone else who is fundamentally needed to protect people’s lives, but the difference between these professions and others lies in capitalist gain.
Middle-class careers, companies and establishments that permit time-off for government holidays are in great thanks to the working class unions, who fought for these rights. Unions fought for the 8-hour work day and overtime payment; unions fought for the right to off-days (i.e. the weekend); and unions still fight for financial equality: fair wages and worker’s benefits. Without the working class, we’d see the grim prospects America faced during the onset of the Industrial Revolution and into the 20th century: extreme poverty, severe health crisis, lack of education, ill-fitted living spaces, monopolized wealth, 12-14 hour work days, zero days off, no right to paid sick leave, no benefits and certainly no employee rights.
The only benefit to working Labor Day is the paid overtime workers benefit from; then again, not everyone receives that overtime. While many unionized working-class workers receive extra pay for the Labor Day holiday, those not in the union work for the same wages they normally do.
According to the the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organization (AFL-CIO), “nearly a quarter of America’s private-sector workers – 23% – have no paid time off for any holidays, including Labor Day, and 24% have no access to any paid vacation at all … Among the bottom 10% of earners, 59% do not have access to paid holidays (Economic Policy Institute).”
Without access to paid holidays or paid vacations, taking time off results in no pay at all, which many working class people can’t afford, or workers can miss a shift, but that ultimately results in a strike against their record.
Labor Day is a government holiday intended to recognize how the working class holds up the foundations of America – particularly American capitalism – but doesn’t recognize or hold accountable the companies that refuse to let their employees have the holiday off. Labor Day shouldn’t be limited to the middle-class, but rather, Labor Day should extend to all people who work.
If Labor Day is truly a holiday intent on celebrating the efforts of the working class and the unions who have fought for workers’ rights, then it’s time the companies who benefit most from the working class allow their employees a right to a paid holiday off like everyone else.
