How Labor Day was hijacked: 5 reminders of the day’s real purpose

How Labor Day was hijacked: 5 reminders of the day’s real purpose

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Unfortunately, there remains one particular national holiday that gets no such respect. I’m talking, of course, about today, Labor Day.

Though we all know when this holiday is and often use it to structure our yearly calendars, the modern version of this occasion has been almost completely divorced from its official meaning. Indeed, the most prominent and pervasive Labor Day iconography usually has nothing to do with the holiday’s actual point and everything to do with discount sales events, the beginning of big-time sports seasons and the last hurrah of summer. Even in the political sphere, much of the rhetoric around this day ends up being generalized platitudes about the economy and jobs, not specific discussions about the importance of organized labor. This, despite the fact that, as the Los Angeles Times notes, “The holiday is the creation of the labor movement, which wanted a holiday to honor workers — and highlight the need for labor reform laws.”

Quite obviously, the transformation of Labor Day from a highly political occasion to specifically honor worker solidarity into an apolitical vacation day has much to do with the larger attack on the labor movement.