Contrasting views of Labor Day

From a conservative, quasi-libertarian point of view: What is Labor Day?

Labor Day began in the late 1800’S. It was recognizing American workers at a time when most labor (industry, mining, transportation, farming) was dangerous, poorly paid, and largely unprotected. Congress declared it a federal holiday in 1894. The post-War period featured years of organizing and bitter labor disputes, including actual combat situations.

Of course, the symbolic holiday didn’t cease that sort of thing. Although much has changed since then. Federal and state laws now establish protections involving workplace safety, wages and hours, discrimination, and child labor. These political actions likely did speed up the actions of employers, including the large industrial combines, railroads, to do what they should have done: protect their own workers. But many changes, improvements, in safety and health of workers since that time have been initiated and implemented by private business. Encouraged as much by the need to keep insurance (and other) costs down and preserve their trained workforce, as to keep government from over-reacting more than they did. And labor unions then did push matters of wages, working conditions, retirement, and respect.

But the result? Most lovers of liberty strongly believe that labor unions have largely become outdated. Yet, though less ubiquitous today, they persist in strength and number. (We speak here of unions other than those of government workers, which are a corrupt element of the permanent bureaucracy and Deep State.

Of course, the unions did not exactly declare victory and go home. Many of today’s large unions (not just the government employee ones) are increasingly little more than political (and powerful) NGOs. They come well equipped to be partners/allies with authoritarian government: permanent bureaucracies, lobbying operations, enormous political war chests, and agendas that smell to high heaven. Most union agendas these days have little to do with taking care of the guy fixing a power line, working on a roof, on an assembly line, or pouring concrete. Labor unions are, more and more, just another form of parasite on the body politic. And their own members.

So, is Labor Day obsolete? It can be argued, rather, that these are reasons to reclaim it.

As lovers of liberty and respectful of what cooperative, voluntary efforts and economics give us? We think that Labor Day should be about the dignity of productive work and the Americans who grow food (and other things), build buildings (and railroads, highways, utilities, machines and other neat things), care for other people, run businesses (especially small business), maintain and fix things, and other productive, hands-on activities. Things that keep the country (and world) functioning. Not the institutions that have appointed themselves to speak for them (and usually do not: government, unions, foundations, etc.).

This is particularly important in a time when bureaucrats and middle-management and people whose primary product (once paperwork) is now electrons. We include governments, unions, too many big businesses and their contractors and supporters. And people look down on people, workers, who haul and unload supplies, fix essential machines and tools (including electronic ones), go out and dig rock and sand out of the ground, turn it into building products – and then build things people need with them.

Not things that amount to glorification of politicians and bureaucrats and government bodies and agencies, but things that make life bearable, that let us enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Yes, “intellectual labor” is important. But plain old “in the dirt, on your knees on a floor (or a rafter), and with dirty hands and heavily-worn gloves, knee-pads, and insulated clothes” labor is something that we should honor. And thank both the Lord and those people who do it.

What Americans have historically been good at is hard work, innovation, and problem-solving. We need to remember that, praise that, teach our children that, and more.

So, Happy Labor Day to the people who actually labor.

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