Labor Day...

here's to a really good job done well!

Labor Day is a legal holiday in the U.S.A. It is celebrated the first Monday in September. It is a day for the nation to honor its workers.Today, Labor Day is a family holiday. It is the last big weekend of summer. Many people pack picnic lunches. They go to the beach, the lake, or the mountains. Others invite friends over for a barbecue. Some towns hold Labor Day parades. Politicians may give speeches.But the first Labor Day celebration in the United States was not about family or fun. Instead, it was about making life better for America’s working class.Back then, workers were not always treated well. Hundreds of new immigrants arrived in the country every day. Most spent all their money getting to America. By the time they arrived, they would take any job they could find.Factory owners often took advantage of the situation. They paid workers little, but expected them to work 12-, 14-, even 16-hour days. What’s more, jobs were often dangerous. Even children worked in situations where a mistake could mean death...that's why we have LABOR LAWS and the right to organize!

The right to organize is among the most fundamental of workplace human rights. It is the workplace expression of the right to freedom of association. Employees are entitled to work collectively on common issues. The right to organize is also the tool which is used to create many other workplace rights. For example, American workers are employed "at will" and can be fired without a legitimate reason. Union members, however, can only be fired for "just cause" because they have achieved this right through collective bargaining.

ALWAYS FINISH

Anonymous

If a task is once begun,

Never leave it till it's done.

Be the labor great or small,

Do it well or not at all.

THE BRIDGE BUILDER

Will Allen Dromgoole

An old man going a lone highway

came at the evening, cold and gray,

To a chasm vast and wide and steep,

With waters rolling cold and deep.

The old man crossed in the twilight dim,

The sullen stream had no fears for him;

But he turned when safe on the other side,

And built a bridge to span the tide.

"Old man," said a fellow pilgrim near,"You are wasting your strength with building here.
Your journey will end with the ending day,

You never again will pass this way.You've crossed the chasm, deep and wide,
Why build you this bridge at eventide?
The builder lifted his old gray head."Good friend, in the path I have come," he said,"There followeth after me today

A youth whose feet must pass this way.

The chasm that was nought to me

To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be;

He, too, must cross in the twilight dim Good friend, I am building this bridge for him.

I salute all the American workers, the employers and the unions..and the working girls...
Now, start rowing your boats together!!