Remember to fly your flag today for Labor Day, to honor all laborers, and especially those in the union movement to whom we owe gratitude for the concepts and reality of safe work places, good pay, benefits (including health benefits), and vacations.
Members of the Silver Platers and Metal Polishers Union carry a large flag in Rochester’s (New York) 1918 Labor Day Parade. A poster depicting Uncle Sam can be seen to the rear of the marchers. Photograph by Albert R. Stone, Albert R. Stone Photo Collection, Monroe County Library System
2014 notes the 100th anniversary of the Ludlow, Colorado Massacre. Labor Day should give us all pause to consider those who lost their lives campaigning for good wages, for decent working hours, for good and safe working conditions, and for the right of workers to negotiate collectively the companies who employ them for these things.
Have a good Labor Day. Celebrate with family and coworkers. Kick off the 2014 elections.
And remember.
Monument in Haymarket Square, Chicago, noting the 1886 Haymarket Riot and the workers who died or were murdered later. Photo by TRiver on flickr, Creative Commons license, via AtlasObscura.
More:
- “While you’re celebrating Labor Day,” at Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub, September 5, 2011
- “Labor Day History,” MFB, September 6, 2010 (a list of sources on the history of Labor Day)
- “2-minute history of Labor,” MFB, September 2, 2013
- “Quote of the moment: Abraham Lincoln, ‘Labor is the superior of capital,'” MFB, September 12, 2012
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 
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