Got Labor Day Plans?

Labor Day is coming -- a day we both look forward to and dread. Everyone loves a three-day weekend, but at what stake? In exchange for the first Monday off each September, we must say good-bye to summer and all the fun that comes with it. I love apple picking and big sweaters as much as any New Englander, but it’s hard to enjoy the fall while driving into work behind a school bus that stops at every kid’s house. When I was a kid, we had a bus stop, darn it. And we walked to it -- uphill both ways…

Speaking of school, let’s start early with a little Labor Day lesson:

Samuel Gompers is quoted in numerous places on the Web as saying, “Labor Day differs in every essential way from the other holidays of the year in any country. All other holidays are in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles of man's prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another. Labor Day...is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation."

Labor Day is devoted to the achievements of the American workforce. The Department of Labor says the first official celebration was in New York City on September 5, 1882, and was orchestrated by the Central Labor Union. In 1884, the first Monday of September was chosen for the holiday. Oregon was the first state to legally recognize the holiday in 1887, and in 1894, Congress made Labor Day a national holiday.

Here are some ideas for celebrating Labor Day, in addition to barbecuing and watching the telethon:

• Read An Eclectic List of Events in US Labor History.


• Learn about labor unions.


• Pat yourself on the back for the contributions you’ve made to the American workforce’s achievements -- every bit counts.

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