The U. S. Dept. of Labor website has a nice history of the holiday here. It notes,"Before it was a federal holiday, Labor Day was recognized by labor activists and individual states. After municipal ordinances were passed in 1885 and 1886, a movement developed to secure state legislation. New York was the first state to introduce a bill, but Oregon was the first to pass a law recognizing Labor Day, on February 21, 1887.
"During 1887, four more states – Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York – passed laws creating a Labor Day holiday. By the end of the decade Connecticut, Nebraska and Pennsylvania had followed suit. By 1894, 23 more states had adopted the holiday, and on June 28, 1894, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday."
The above ad for the City Bank Company was the only ad I could find in the Journal around Labor Day 1962 that even addressed the holiday.
Labor Day 2022 will go down as one that took place in an odd time in our history – when a lot of people simply aren't working no matter how generous the hourly wages have become. How are they are making ends meet? Nobody knows.
Anyway, have a safe and happy Labor Day!
3 comments:
There are differing views of what a "generous" hourly wage is.Some people feel they aren't being paid enough when they see the company they work for reap record profits year after year.People have finally awakened from their 45 year slumber of being brainwashed by the companies and the corrupt unions into thinking that they are only worth a certain amount of money and that they shouldn't demand a better wage and working conditions.The UAW union comes to mind.They sold out their members for the last 30 some odd years and let the Big 3 do whatever they wanted,contract after contract.Unions originally were for the people,not against them siding with the company all the time like the UAW has done.But the UAW sold out its members and forced its membership to take concession after concession.Contract after contract.The companies can afford to pay up.Personally,I am glad we are seeing an uprising of people who are wanting and somewhat getting a better wage for the mundane work they are doing.The recently unionized Amazon warehouse comes to mind.But there is a long way to go.The concessions that the UAW gave back to the Big 3 set the UAW membership back a good 40 years as to what the workers should be making now.And so as the fight for better wages continues,Jeff Bezos is getting ready to fly into space.
Thank you, Anonymous!
This post confuses me. "Labor Day 2022 will go down as one that took place in an odd time in our history – when a lot of people simply aren't working no matter how generous the hourly wages have become." This country's unemployment numbers are the lowest they've been in a very, very long time. Unemployment Rate in Ohio was 3.90% in May of 2022, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, Unemployment Rate in Ohio reached a record high of 16.40 in April of 2020 and a record low of 3.80 in January of 2001.
Currently, in Ohio, the average Unemployment Rate is 3.9.
I wasn't trying to make a heavy statement or start a controversy here. If you are wondering what I was talking about, read this:
https://www.uschamber.com/workforce/understanding-americas-labor-shortage
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