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While Memorial Day is a time for reflection and remembrance, many also mark the unofficial start of summer with festivities and fun. It’s unfortunate that Labor Day has simply come to be about festivities and fun.
The labor movement is one of the great American success stories. Anyone who has ever enjoyed a five-day work week, paid time off, benefits, sick leave, maternity leave, or profit sharing does so because of the millions of men and women who literally fought, and sometimes died, to earn us these rights.
But the fight for workers’ rights is far from over.
In the immediate wake of COVID, there was a renewed appreciation for those laborers who kept us moving. Americans rallied around grocery and convenience store workers who went to work while the rest of us sheltered in place. We cheered energy workers and nurses and teachers and military personnel who had to keep going.
Almost as quickly as people embraced laborers, however, they rejected them. Just a year into the pandemic, teachers were being accused of everything from the ridiculous—indoctrinating students with socialism—to the truly disgusting—pedophilia and grooming.
Minimum-wage workers tasked with enforcing laws about masking were insulted, yelled at, and on occasion physically assaulted by people who refused to follow societal rules.
And then there are the nurses. The abuse that they have faced has become so bad that earlier this year the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act was introduced in the U.S. Senate. Its sole aim was to curtail violence. The bill never got out of the Senate.
This Labor Day, it would do us well to first remember how much remains to be done to elevate the status of workers in our state. In 2019, OxFam rated Virginia the worst state in the nation for workers, thanks to “right to work” laws that disproportionately favor employers.
So before heading out to that barbecue, spend a few minutes thinking about what the laborers before us have suffered and fought for. And how much we owe today’s laborers.
July 14, 1877: In Martinsburg, West Virginia, the Great Railroad Strike began because the Baltimore & Ohio railroad company lowered wages for the second time in a year. As the strike spread, state militias were mobilized, leading to several bloody clashes. In Cumberland, Maryland, at least 10 workers died.
May 4, 1886: The Haymarket Affair began as a rally supporting an eight-hour workday. A pipe bomb was thrown at police. In the ensuing violence, seven policemen and four laborers were killed. The resulting trial led to death sentences for seven, five of whom weren’t even in Haymarket Square the day of the unrest.
Jan. 25, 1890: The Knights of Labor Trade Assembly No. 135 and the National Progressive Miners Union combined to create the United Mine Workers of America. This gave miners collective bargaining power, and the union worked aggressively to improve mine safety. Between 1882 and 1890, an average of 625 miners were dying every year.
July 6, 1892: The Homestead Steel Works strike outside Pittsburgh is a turning point in labor history. Pinkerton Detectives, long used to bust strikes, are used less frequently after this event, in which both workers and detectives are killed. Andrew Carnegie, recognized as one of America’s leading philanthropists, backs suppressing the uprising, which began when the company cut salaries. Carnegie’s approval forever soils his reputation.
Sept. 10, 1897: The Lattimer Massacre occurs in the Pennsylvania town of the same name when 300 to 400 striking coal miners march in support of the UMWA. Police murder 19 miners.
May 9, 1900: Some 3,000 Saint Louis Transit Company workers strike. Three workers are shot on June 10 when wealthy citizens fire on them. Ultimately, 14 people die before the strike is settled in September.
Jan. 1, 1912: A government-mandated reduction of the work week goes into effect in Lawrence, Massachusetts, resulting in pay cuts at textile mills. In response to the decrease in wages, textile workers go out on strike. Soon after, the Industrial Workers of the World arrives to organize and lead the strike, and the mayor orders local militia to patrol the streets. Local officers turn fire hoses on the workers.
The American labor story is not told well in America’s schools, and deserves more attention.
This year, let’s look at the fuller story of Labor Day, and recommit to appreciating those who labor for a living.
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