Labor Day

From Victories to Union Militancy, 5 Reasons for Workers to Celebrate This Labor Day

Labor Day often gets short shrift as a worker’s holiday. Marked primarily by sales on patio furniture and mattresses, the day also has a more muddled history than May Day, which stands for internationalism and solidarity among the working class. Labor Day, by contrast, was declared a federal holiday in 1894 by President Grover Cleveland, …

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Trump administration set for a Labor Day overtime fake-out, this week in the war on workers

The Trump administration is about to pretend it’s doing something great for workers, but surprise—it’s not so great. Heidi Shierholz explains the truth behind reports that the administration will roll out its new overtime eligibility rule in time for Labor Day, looking for positive headlines about all the workers who’ll suddenly be eligible for time-and-a-half if they …

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When the Parades Are Over, Who Stands With Unions?

The Labor Day parades are over. The bands have packed up. The muscular speeches celebrating workers are finished. The trash is getting collected from parks across the country.  And now conservative politicians from Trump on down will revive their systematic efforts to weaken unions and undermine workers. Trump – despite all the populist bunting that …

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Labor unions are trying to take back politics in the Midwest

On Labor Day — designated a federal holiday in 1894 to honor America’s labor movement — at least eight Democratic candidates will hold rallies in five Midwest cities to tell workers just how far the country has veered from its pro-labor roots. In Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker (R) has helped turn the state red by decimating …

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Labor Day 2013: Things Have Never Looked Worse for Workers—Or Brighter

  Four young men breakdancing on the Federal Plaza last week in downtown Chicago say a lot about why this Labor Day provides occasion for both celebration and protest.   The dancers—black, white, Latino, all of them putting on a spectacular show—were fast food and retail workers on strike for the day for $15 an …

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Madeline Messa

Madeline Messa is a 3L at Syracuse University College of Law. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism. With her legal research and writing for Workplace Fairness, she strives to equip people with the information they need to be their own best advocate.