Labor Day 2024

It was the Labor Movement that authored the idea of Labor Day, but it was the workers’ labor that inspired it. It is often, correctly, stated by current President Joseph R. Biden, that the middle-class built America and that Unions built the middle-class. In the Labor Movement, we say, “the Union is only as strong as its membership,” so when we, the working class, stand together in unity, we become an unbreakable force.

Long before any of us put our shoulders to the wheel, our noses to the grindstone, or any other work-related idiom you could conjure up, our Labor hero predecessors fought the good fight against anti-worker, anti-safety, and anti-Union companies and their minion lap dog supervisors and managers. Their struggles, which resulted in our victories, paved the way for the five-day and 40-hour work week, paid vacation, fair pay for our labor, and dignified pensions.

While some may be tired of these repetitive truths being restated, we remind them that these are not just slogans from the past, but these are realized benefits that both Union and non-Union workers enjoy today—because of Unions and their leadership. While Labor Day is for all workers, it was, in fact, primarily created by and for America’s Unions and its members.

Labor Day, by its mere existence, acknowledges the literal blood, sweat, and tears of those who gave their everything despite the costs, so future generations, like us, could have something of which to be proud. This Labor Day let us honor the pioneers of this Movement, as Mary “Mother” Jones stated by, “Pray[ing] for the dead and fight[ing] like hell for the living.”

In Unity,

AFGE Council 100