For those who are not students of history, Labor Day in the United States exists to celebrate workers in the United States, and hopefully to pause to consider how worker rights have improved.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

Child Labor in the United States

But we should also pause to consider the state of Unions in the US, and the status of laborers. By this I don’t mean lawyers and CEOs, but the people who do the work in the service and manufacturing industries: slaughterhouses, commercial farms, coal mines.

Also consider that for those at the bottom, wages have remained stagnant or decreased with inflation, rates of health insurance coverage are falling (while health costs rise), and workplace safety is again becoming an increasing problem.

Bureau of Labor Statistics
National Agricultural Workers Survey
US Department of Labor