Labor Day is a "grass roots" holiday. It hails the dignity of man and salutes his individual efforts. Unlike other holidays, Labor Day has neither political nor religious origin, nor is it celebrated in any uniform way. Yet it has meaning for all, for it commemorates the attainments of workers as free men in a free society, whose rise, in less than a century, is one of the great success stories of all time.
The once-popular parades,
displaying the strength and esprit
de corps of labor unions, are seldom seen anymore. Instead,
the holiday is generally used for rest and recreation. It
is a great weekend for an outing--at a national park, a
seashore resort, or to visit relatives. There are picnics,
of course, and backyard barbecues; the athletically inclined
play golf, swim, surf, or follow their favorite sport; and
some people prefer the luxury of a lazy three days at home,
catching up on postponed reading or working in the garden.
Labor Day was first celebrated in 1882. The idea originated
with Peter J. McGuire, a dedicated leader of the Brotherhood
of Carpenters and Joiners, who proposed to the Central Labor
Union that the first Monday in September be established as
a holiday to honor the working people--celebrate their
victories--and dedicate the unions to further progress. And
on September 5th of that year the first Labor Day parade was
held in New York City. The New York World reported that after
a mass meeting in Union Square 20,000 cheering and singing
workers marched up Broadway with banners that read:
EIGHT HOURS FOR WORK; EIGHT HOURS FOR REST; EIGHT
HOURS FOR RECREATION!
LABOR CREATES ALL WEALTH
THE TRUE REMEDY IS ORGANIZATION AND THE BALLOT
The demands raised at the first Labor Day celebration seemed
visionary and caused the editor of the New York Times to warn
that an eight-hour day would bankrupt industry and that the
resulting idleness would increase crime. But labor has
marched a long way since then and without the dire results
predicted.
The idea of Labor Day spread rapidly from city to city, from coast to coast. One state after another declared the first Monday in September a legal holiday, and in 1894 the Congress of the United States made it a national holiday.
Mr. McGuire chose the date carefully. At that time holidays were few; the work day was 10 hours, and the workweek Monday through Saturday. Any break in the routine was welcome, especially a long weekend midway between the 4th of July and Thanksgiving.
When we consider the comfortable circumstances of a working family today, the lot of the workingman in 1882 seems grim indeed. But earlier it had been even harder. At the beginning of the nineteenth century working hours were from sunrise to sunset, pay was meager, and working conditions were dreary and dangerous. The workingman had little schooling beyond his craft, and there was scant hope that his children would have anything better. There were no public schools, and besides, the few pennies the children could earn were needed to help support the family. If he was absent because of sickness there was often no job for him when he returned. Since there were always plenty of other workers to take his job, he was likely to be fired if he asked for more pay. Viewed against today's standards, the attitude of the nineteenth-century factory owners seems incredible. They believed it was good business to hire men, women and children as cheaply as possible, make them work as had as they could and, when they became inefficient, worn out, or unable to work for any reason, discharge them.
Gradually small groups began to organize. When they first tried to enforce their just demands, they were taken to court on grounds of "conspiracy." But as the country grew the status of labor improved. By 1828 the ten-hour day had been adopted, and in 1842 a Massachusetts judge ruled that it was not illegal for a union to strike for higher wages. Soon after that, the National Trades Union (a remote ancestor of the now powerful American Federation of Labor) was formed and made the eight-hour day one of its objectives. Factories were gaining in importance and mass production soon replaced the hand crafts. Unskilled workers found work as machine operators and the labor force expanded in numbers and complexity. In the hectic years following the Civil War there was widespread unemployment and the gap again widened between management and labor. The Knights of Labor, a clandestine union of unions, enlisted 700,000 members and gained some influence, but continual strikes and violence resulted in strong public reaction against the unions until the organization eventually collapsed without much positive gain.
Meanwhile, Samuel Gompers, the immigrant cigar-maker who would emerge as the "Grand Old Man of Labor," began plumping for a federation of craft unions which could assert its demands as a single force. Finally, in 1886, at a meeting of union leaders in Columbus, Ohio, spearheaded by Gompers, Peter McGuire, and a few other adherents, the American Federation of Labor was launched with the straight-forward platform, "A fair day's wage for a fair day's work." At the meeting McGuire continued his campaign for Labor Day, explaining that "this holiday is dedicated to the strength and spirit of the labor organizations--to the working people who are the great vital force of every nation."
Unskilled workers were slower to become organized and it was not until 1935 that the mass production workers were admitted to the AFL. Two years later they formed a separate organization called the Committee for Industrial Organization. In 1955 the AFL and CIO re-merged, and now, with 15 million members representing around 135 affiliated unions, the AFL-CLO constitutes the voice of labor. The interests of the AFL-CLO have shifted with the times, and its goals have broadened far beyond its own ranks. "What's good for America is good for the AFL-CIO" is not just an expression of labor's patriotism, but a statement of the practical realities. As soon as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 became a law the AFL-CLO revised its constitution to make all workers, regardless of race, color, creed, or national origin, eligible for membership. It also seeks to improve the conditions of workers in other counties. Representatives of the AFL-CIO organize seminars and provide advice for labor organizations abroad; and money from its pension fund is used to guarantee mortgages for low-cost housing.
Of the many social reforms advocated by the AFL-CIO, its greatest accomplishment has been the establishment of collective bargaining as the accepted means of securing a better and higher standard of life and work. Before a strike is called, labor and management confront each other across the bargaining table. Each side is armed with volumes of facts and figures on the economic prospects of the country as well as the outlook for the particular industry involved, and the issues are viewed in their broadest aspects. If it appears that a union is making excessive or unreasonable demands which might affect the public interest, union representatives are called to testify before congressional committees of government agencies. And in the event negotiations fail to result in an agreement between labor and management a representative of the Department of Labor may be asked to arbitrate the differences.
Along with its successes labor has known reverses, but the trend has been forward--and at a rapid rate. As Eric Hoffer, the Stevedore-philosopher, put it, "The mad rush of the last hundred years has left us out of breath."
The big landmarks have appeared in Federal legislation. In 1914 the Clayton Act, which Samuel Gompers called the "magna Carta of Labor," provided that "nothing contained in the anti-trust laws shall be construed to forbid the existence and operation of labor organizations instituted for the purposes of mutual help...nor shall organizations be held...illegal combinations or conspiracies in restraint of trade under the anti-trust laws." Within the year the Department of Labor was created and its secretary was made a member of the president's cabinet.
Laws regulating child labor were enacted in some states as early as 1848 but not until 1917 did Congress take action. Even then the unions wanted stronger laws, and they were not satisfied until Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938, forbidding the hiring of children under 16 years of age.
The Wagner Act (National Labor Relations Act of 1935) providing for a guaranteed minimum wage, reasonable hours of work, and the right to collective bargaining, so strengthened the position of labor unions that as an ameliorating measure Congress adopted (in 1947) the Taft-Hartley Act, somewhat limiting the power of the unions. Under the Taft-Hartley Act employers may sue unions for breach of contract. It also provides for "cooling off" periods and for presidential use of injunctions in strikes that may imperil national health and safety, prohibits closed shops, forbids union contributions to national elections, and restricts union shops as well as many unfair union practices.
Welfare measures applying to all workers, not just union members, are now woven into the American economy. Most Americans have some insurance applicable to old age, unemployment, long-term illness or injury, and the death of the family wage-earner. Nearly all who work, including the self-employed, are protected by retirement programs, and four out of five, except the self-employed, have unemployment insurance.
The social security law, jointly supported by employers and workers, provides a national system of old-age, survivors' and disability insurance which covers about 90% of all workers. Upon retirement (at 65 years of age for men and 62 for women) workers receive monthly payments in accordance with the amounts paid in. At present more than 20 million persons are receiving old-age and disability insurance benefits, averaging $84 per month. The old-age pension generally provides only about a third of the income necessary to live comfortably, but many workers are covered by additional pension plans negotiated by their unions. Health benefits are also provided by the Federal Government through the new Medicare program. Medicare is tied to the social security system and assists persons of 65 and over in the payment of hospital care, home-nursing services, and out-patient hospital diagnosis.
Unemployment insurance, supported by a payroll tax paid by the employer, is administered by the State governments from funds provided by the Federal Government. In some industries union contracts provide for compensation in addition to unemployment insurance. Unemployed members of the United Auto Workers, for instance, are guaranteed 60 to 65 percent of their normal earnings over a six-month period and the company is required to pay the difference between unemployment compensation and the guaranteed wage.
Employees of Federal, State and City governments are covered by insurance systems providing cash payments for retirement and medical expenses, as well as disability and death benefits. The Federal Government also provides extensive coverage for members of the Armed Services and for railroad workers. And under workmen's compensation acts, in effect in all of the states, workers or their families are indemnified for work-connected injury or death.
A recently inaugurated Federal program, the Office of Economic Opportunity, is helping young people who lack adequate training and education prepare themselves for job needs. Those without basic schooling may go to Job Corps camps where they combine classroom instruction with work in forestry, fire control, soil erosion and other useful occupations. After completion of Job Corps training they are channeled into urban centers where they receive on-the-job training and counselling by private, university or state agencies.
Since World War II labor organizations have also given greater emphasis to welfare and educational programs. Having achieved their goals of high wages and better working conditions, the unions have turned their attention to more sophisticated objectives. They recognize that to keep abreast of advances in technology, workers must develop more and more refined skills; and that at least a secondary education is basic to an understanding of the processes. Consequently, union-sponsored adult education programs help members complete the work necessary for a high school diploma, gain added technical skills, or train for an entirely new job. In addition, union members may take avocational classes in music, art, dancing or sports.
Research on subjects of concern to its members also occupies union interest. In cooperation with universities, professional staffers make studies of the adjustment to changing social and economic conditions by the young and old; on how automation will affect certain workers; of sub-standard housing and the effects of urban decentralization; and of the problems of minority groups inside and outside the union. Then, based on the results of their studies, they undertake projects to alleviate the needs: construct low-cost housing, help develop urban renewal plans, and establish communities for retired workers.
Programs of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, although outstanding for their breadth and size, are illustrative. The ILGWU founded a workers' university in New York City, built Unity Center (a beautiful resort in Pennsylvania) for the enjoyment of its members, and established the Labor College which offers training in union leadership as well as courses in labor management designed to show garment firms how to operate more efficiently. In addition, the ILGWU has established the David Dubinsky Foundation, endowed with a million dollars to be used for grants to aid humanitarian causes.
To grasp fully the giant strides made by labor in such a short time, one need only compare the AFL's first tiny headquarters with the elegant eight-story AFL-CIO Building located in Washington, D.C. within walking distance of the White House. Or consider the background of Samuel Gompers, the immigrant cigar-maker whose only schooling after ten years of age was in sweatshops and factories, with the well-educated lawyers, economists and industrial psychologists who form present-day union leadership.
Or think of the helpless, poorly paid worker who didn't even have a vote until 1830, as compared with the modern worker's good wages, insurance protection, and paid vacations. Or think of the helpless, poorly paid worker who didn't even have a vote until 1830, as compared with the modern worker's good wages, insurance protection, and paid vacations. Or compare the old hostilities between management and labor where strikes meant violence and the opposing sides were kept at arm's length, with the mutual respect and easy relationships that now permit them to solve their differences around the table.
Such a success story deserves to
be celebrated as one of the
most important U.S. holidays.