Bishop William Murphy addressed these issues in the 2010 Labor Day Statement of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, saying, “New jobs with just wages and benefits must be created so that all workers can express their dignity through the dignity of work and are able to fulfill God’s call to us all to be co-creators.”

via Keeping Faith In Labor.

I’ve always been moved by the Church’s insistance on economic justice for workers all over the world. Though I do not follow any organized religion, but do beleive that there is “something.” I am happy to see this.

People need to know that things like this still go on in our country.

Take the restaurant workers who line up for paychecks after twelve hours of work only to be told there’s no money, or the nursing home aide who routinely works well into the night without extra pay, or the temp worker who packs food in an ice-cold warehouse without protective gear only to have the temp agency illegally deduct money from her wages every week.

This is just a sampling of the ways America’s laws are failing to protect workers at the start of the twenty-first century. And until recently, public agencies often lacked the resources or political will to respond to such abuses. As Congressional investigators documented shortly after President Obama took office, employers who violate minimum wage and overtime laws are rarely caught or prosecuted.

Many people don’t think about Labor Day. They see it as another day off from work. It’s a day when the retail corporations offer incentives to come out and consume. Yet, even those who have an inkling of what Labor Day is and what it’s about don’t realize that this day masks the real defiance and spirit of the workers’ movement.

The Knights of Labor were the driving force behind making the Labor Day of September officially recognized. They were aided in this effort by President Grover Cleveland who sought to commemorate this day instead of another more historic day in May 4^th in which many in the international labor movement sought to recognize in the May Day of May 1^st.

It was the events that occurred in May 1886 that eventually brought about the eight-hour work day. Starting on May 1^st of that year there were thousands of rallies organized in support of eight-hour workdays. The one rally that forever ingrained May Day in our collective memories was the one which occurred on May 4^th in Haymarket Square in Chicago.

If there is one thing that is true about labor versus capital, it is the reality that nothing is ever won by labor without a fight. Working people often face violence, repression and hostility when trying to organize and wring concessions from corporations and sometimes government. It is as true then in the late nineteenth century as it is now in the early twenty first century. If we want to take back Labor Day on whatever day we celebrate it–we must show people that this truth of the struggle is far from being over.

It was then with this ever present reality that striking and locked out McCormick Harvesting Machine Corporation plant workers in Chicago—which were attacked by Pinkerton thugs and then cut down by the police in gunfire on May 3^rd—had had enough and organized a protest to take place at Haymarket Square.

The rally that occurred in Haymarket Square that day was meant to be peaceful. Unfortunately it did not end that way. Someone threw a pipe bomb at the police which resulted in anarchy as gunshots filled the air. Many police officers and bystanders were injured mostly by friendly fire. In the end seven police men and four workers were killed.

Afterward it is the trial that ensued and the injustice that the rally’s organizers faced is what gave the Haymarket Affair its notoriety. Eight people were charged and seven were given death sentences including August Spies a leader and labor activist.

It is my opinion that this trial was also used to try and discredit the workers and their cause. Thankfully this did not happen and we can thank organized labor for the eight-hour workday (and five-day workweek) today.

Yes, we enjoy benefits that the labor movement of the past worked to get us, but there are new issues and needs that we must address and fight for. We need to start working to organize sectors of the new economy like IT and the service based jobs. This work has already begun and hopefully it will prove successful. We also need to look to the new green-collar jobs that will come into being. We also shouldn’t give up entirely on manufacturing. As the cost of oil rises we will probably see a return of some manufacturing jobs to America. We have to also look to organize plants that are opened in the US by foreign corporations. We have to focus on affordable college education and ensuring that the workforce is educated for any new sectors of the economy that may become a reality. Last but not least universal healthcare and affordable housing are issues that deeply concern working America and must continue to be focused on until working families get what they need.

I think that another thing we must also do is to start thinking of a global labor movement. Corporations have successfully globalized, but labor is still at the very beginning of doing this. If manufacturing jobs are going to leave the developed countries that doesn’t mean that workers in other countries should be allowed to be taken advantage of. We can work to organize these workers as well. Every few months I read of tens of thousands of workers in developing countries going out on strike. We need to work on forming global labor unions. To take back Labor Day and make it truly a holiday to celebrate for not only America’s workers but for workers everywhere, there are many things we must do. Probably the one thing we can do as a society is also recognize that we can’t continue a race to the bottom. We can’t put the bottom line above people. Profit maximization and the lowest possible prices for the consumer isn’t everything. If we have to pay a little more as consumers and earn a little less as corporations then maybe it’s not a bad thing if it ensures more people have jobs and a secure life.

Cross posted at Today’s Workplace