LETTER: A thanks to labor unions
This weekend we mark the Labor Day holiday. Its roots go back to Sept. 5, 1882, when Peter J. McGuire loosely organized a march in New York City to honor and call attention to the laborers and unions who were building this country in the Industrial Age. Some 10,000 workers took unpaid leave to participate in the parade that day. By 1894 the U.S. Congress had made Labor Day an official federal holiday.
Labor unions had been pushing for specific improvements to working conditions. Most workers — a majority of whom were European immigrants — performed physically challenging jobs such as mining, steel manufacturing, and garment making. Long hours — even seven-day work weeks — hazardous conditions, lax laws, child labor, and few benefits were the norm. The unions and workers fought for the things we now take for granted: 40-hour weeks, company health care, paid vacations, and sick leave.
If you are seeing this as a 60- to 80-year-old reader, you quite likely had a parent, grandparent, or great grandparent who struggled through work conditions that are unfathomable to us. They deserve a debt of gratitude for helping create a better life for their descendants. Make sure you tell your kids and grandkids what those ancestors and their unions did for them.
Bernie Quarrick
Uniontown