It’s a bit difficult to get excited about Labor Day this year. The state of labor — the working men and women in the United States — is too precarious to elicit anything other than concern. Couple that with the fact that most Americans now consider the holiday an end-of-summer ritual marked by a day off from school or work, by going shopping, and by sports contests and social events rather than a celebration of America’s workers and it is easy to understand the pervasive pessimism that is the hallmark of the contemporary labor movement.
There are, of course, legitimate reasons that the gap between the official and unofficial observance of a day created to honor the nation’s workers is so wide. The domestic economy, the global marketplace imperatives of the 21st Century and partisan politics have diminished the role of U.S. workers and completely altered the image of a a day that once saluted their service.
The labor movement pushed for the holiday in the late 1800s as a highly public way to salute the men and women whose work indisputably was the major factor in the United States’ impressive rise to the pinnacle of the globe’s industrial powers. When the holiday received legislative approval in 1894, it was natural that the labor movement would celebrate it with parades, oratory and festive gatherings that praised the dignity of hard work and the livable wages and benefits that toil provided.
In some places, but not many, that tradition is still followed, but the crowds are considerably smaller and the enthusiasm muted. That’s hardly surprising. The role, power and influence of the labor movement has declined precipitously as the nation’s workforce has moved from one that mostly made products from raw material to one that provides services. The resulting shift from blue-collar to white collar workers was the initial force for change in the labor movement. The anti-union sentiment of the conservative element in American politics and businesses accelerated it.
The result is a labor movement that is almost moribund. The percentage of American workers in unions continues to shrink and union-busting efforts at all levels is at an historically high level. Even high unemployment — around 10 percent here and in double digits in many places around the country — and the continued erosion of workers rights, pay and benefits have failed to galvanize organized labor or improve its acceptance with the general public. No wonder today’s celebrations pale in comparison to those of the past.