Labor Day in the United States exists to rights that workers in the United States have achieved in the past century, and to give us time to allow those who keep the power on and the trains running and all those other jobs that require you to get your hands dirty, a day to be recognized for their work.

And we should remember the past, and some of the incidents that made labor unions so critical:
The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

Child Labor in the United States

And we should also 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.

And realize 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

So while many of us (especially those of us who have computers and time to read weblogs) are enjoying our day of leisure, we should also consider those whose jobs are much harder, and much more dangerous. We’ve seen several industrial disasters this year, so today is a good day to remember those who have lost their lives and their health doing nothing more than trying to make living.