She has always been there for us, let’s be there for her! Wear your Carpenter Colors!

View Flyer and Map: Workers Rally for Patty Murray

• Tell a friend

Ah, Labor Day! The lovely, bittersweet holiday that closes out summer’s outings and school vacations. Ever wonder what the celebration is all about?

On September 5, 1882, ten thousand union workers marched through the streets of New York. This first Labor Day celebration culminated in a family picnic and concert featuring speeches by union leaders, including Carpenter’s Union firebrand Peter McGuire — the champion of the eight hour workday. Twelve years later, Congress recognized the importance of the Labor Movement and adopted Labor Day as a national holiday.

Since that time, globalization has reduced the size and influence of America’s industrial unions. That decline has been abetted by our political leaders’ failure to develop policies to promote industrial work within our nation’s borders.

In 1954, one of every three working Americans was represented by a union. Today, that ratio has fallen to one of eight. Yet research shows tens of millions of American workers would join a union today if they did not fear retaliation from their employers.

Public commentary about the value of unions has shifted, too. Hateful denunciations of “big labor” abound in the media. Well-paid pundits such as Ann Coulter, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh pontificate about the “evils” of unionism and the “special benefits” received by unionized government employees.

So what is there to celebrate this Labor Day?

For starters, over 15 million Americans belong to unions (that’s 35 times as many people as voted for Ron Paul in the 2008 presidential election).

Today, unionized workers earn about 28 percent more than their non-union counterparts. Unionized workers are four times more likely to have employer-sponsored health insurance. A union worker is two-and-a-half times more likely to have a pension plan.

Today, unionized construction tradespeople possess striking advantages in their craft thanks to union apprenticeship programs and ongoing skills training and enhancement programs.

Today, unions provide countless opportunities for members to become involved in our nation’s civic life through labor-sponsored political and volunteer activities. Have you noticed that ruthless dictators traditionally crush or try to co-opt unions? That’s because unions are ardent practitioners of democracy.

So this weekend, as you fire up the grill and relax with friends and family, please keep in mind why Labor Day is a national holiday. We are honoring a national movement that survives in spite of difficulties and continues to advocate for better wages, health insurance, pensions, Social Security, family and medical leave, civic participation and workers having a voice at work. The Labor Movement is not just about better working conditions — it is about building better lives for workers.

Peter McGuire called that first Labor Day, “A harbinger of a better age.”

One step toward that better age would be for Congress to adopt the Employee Free Choice Act, which would afford more Americans the opportunity to belong to a union, strengthen the nation’s economy and rebuild the Middle Class.

And that’s what all of us are building, together.