East County News Service

September 6, 2015 (San Diego)— Hundreds of thousands of workers for federal contractors will now receive paid leave when they are sick, thanks to an executive order signed by President Barack Obama in honor of Labor Day.

The U.S. Department of Labor has set up a special section on its website devoted to Labor Day news.  It notes that when workers prosper, the economy prospers too. “Shared prosperity is not just about economic fairness, but also national strength,” the Labor Department’s website states.

But as Americans celebrate the holiday, many are unaware of the origins of Labor Day, which has its roots in the Industrial Revolution, when many U.S. workers toiled 7 days a week, 12 hours a day. Wages were low and factory workers included children as young as 5 years old, toiling amid often dangerous and unsanitary conditions.

In an editorial titled “Labor Works For Us”  San Diego County Democratic Party Chair Francine Busby writes of those Industrial Revolution era employees, “No longer willing to accept the widespread exploitation and abuses enforced by iron-fisted owners who built impregnable monopolies and bought off corrupt politicians, workers began to fight back. Risking unemployment, deprivation, and physical assaults, they began to organize. Many events turned violent during this period, like the Haymarket Riot of 1886, which led to the deaths of many workers in Chicago.”

Voices of those calling for reforms grew, giving rises to the labor movement in America. The first Labor Day parade was held in 1882 in New York—with 10,000 workers marching. Those efforts led to passage of legislation including child labor laws, workplace safety regulations, minimum wage,  overtime pay,  laws prohibiting discrimination in hiring, sick leave, and workers’ compensation for those injured on the job.

Today most workers in the U.S. have job protections even if they don’t belong to unions. Unions helped lift workers out of poverty and built a strong middle class.

The number of union members had declined in recent years but is now on the rise again. “Just this week, Uber drivers and franchise employees won the right to be considered employees with the right to organize, rather than being regarded as contract workers,” Busby writes.

Unions have also fought for social and economic justice movements, such as the Civil Rights Act. In San Diego, pro-labor forces helped pass a living wage, reduce industrial pollution in Barrio Logan and pass bonds to fund public schools and infrastructure projects, for instance.  Unions locally, backed by the Democratic Party, are now pushing to raise the minimum wage and healthcare access for all workers.