My thirteen
year old son heard a food store commercial about buying food for your Labor
Day celebration, and said, “Why would anyone want to celebrate Labor Day?” I asked him what he meant and he said, “why
would I want to celebrate having to go back to school?”
I’m sad that
my son, who was always excited about the start of elementary school, doesn’t
want to start school. I think it is
mostly because of the early start time and then the day to day annoyance of
homework.
I’m also sad
that my son has no understanding of the importance and significance of Labor
Day. To him and I guess, to many people
in this country, it is just the last day off before school starts, the end mark
of summer, the last day to wear those white clothes.
My first
year at Cornell – School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR), a school
focused on American workers, Cornell scheduled classes on Labor Day. That schedule did not go over well with the
ILR students and talk of a protest and skip day launched. In the interest of not having first years
miss their first day of classes, my recollection is that either teachers
cancelled their classes or classes started the next day. Now, Cornell’s academic calendar recognizes Labor
Day as a holiday.
The United
States Department of Labor explains the reason for the Labor Day holiday:
Labor
Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is
dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes
a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the
strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.
To learn
more about Labor Day, check out DOL website at http://www.dol.gov/opa/aboutdol/laborday.htm.
In addition
to making sure that Michael has a fun last weekend of summer, finishes his math
packet, I hope I can get him to see that Labor Day is more than just the last
day before school starts.
My son has
given me continued inspiration to write this blog, to work on my proposal to
teach a modern American labor class, and the hope that Labor Day 2013, won’t
just be all about the sales, bbqs, and putting away those white shoes and pants
(and for Harry, his Hawaiian shirts).
I'll be honest...I really have never quite understood the significance of Labor Day either. I vaguely remember the rise of labor unions being taught in school...kind of like military history was always Euro-centric and skipped over American history related to the Pacific. Growing up in Ohio...a huge Labor Union state, one of my early pre-school memories was walking up to the elementary school to bring my dad lunch while he was on a picket line with fellow teachers. Now-a-days, the labor movement seems to be seen as an enemy of the American People and our economy...A modern American Labor class would be a great class. So many things previous generations fought for...work place safety, livable wages, 40 hour work weeks...things we take for granted as always having been that way...current generations really don't know how all that came about.
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