Today is Labor Day, and that means the unofficial end of summer on a day of celebration of the American worker. The holiday originated in the late 19th century and was borne of the labor movement, though many Americans, led by President Grover Cleveland, pushed for and secured a September date to distinguish it from the socialist/communist “International Workers Day,” or “May Day,” on May 1. Labor Day was made an official federal holiday in 1894.
There’s much to lament regarding the state of labor and jobs in our nation — nearly nine million unfilled job openings and wages that aren’t keeping up with inflation, for example. But American workers are often still the best in the world, and we’re quite thankful for the labor of everyone from factory workers and truck drivers to retail clerks, electricians, and plumbers. Our complex society takes a lot of moving parts to keep functioning. Those parts don’t always work quite right, but when they do, it proves our free enterprise system to be the best there is.
Many Americans take Labor Day off from their labors, and we wish you all a happy reprieve with family and friends.
