Fair Trade Helps

The Labor Day Blues

September 8, 2009 at 9:32 pm fairtradeliz Leave a comment

For most of us in the US we recognize labor day as a day off to spend with friends and family, grilling out, relaxing and enjoying the end of summer’s last hoorah. But Labor day wasn’t always so grand, and we should be careful to remember from where it stems.

 The first Labor Day was celebrated in New York city in 1884, but it wasn’t until the aftermath of the Pullman Strike ten years later that the day and need to recognize labor  happened nationally.  You see at that time, railroad workers were pushing out 12 hour days at least 6 days a week.  Wages were going down, and rent and other expenses were staying the same.  On May 11, 1894 roughly 3,000 employees of the Pullman Palace Car Company began a strike in response, essentially halting all traffic to the west of Chicago.

 Eventually, President Cleveland ordered federal troops to end the strike, because it  was blocking the federal mail service.  Thirteen died in the conflict and 57 were wounded.  Damages were estimated at over $6 million (after inflation adjusted for 2007). And later in the President’s attempts to patch up the hard feelings with the labor sector, he instituted (with the help of Congress of course) the nation’s first Labor Day

 So, now when we look at labor day, we should remember how far we’ve come.  Most of us look forward to the weekends and to limited work hours or at least overtime- but I wonder if our own service sector labor often loses that precious time off to recoop and sees the value that their work earns.

 And we should take note worldwide.  In many parts of the world, labor laws arent’ enforced.  If you  take off the day sick, you’ll get replaced and you may not get the job again.  Or employers might find ways around the laws… for example… “sure the work day is only 8 hours , but I can find someone just as desperate who will put in the 12 hour day.”  If that was your only option for  a job in town, you might pick the long day too.  Or maybe the problem is something as simple/complex as safety.  In parts of Peru, in mining communities, the contamination is so bad that they say the people have “lead in their blood” – and they do, well above the safe range.

So when you’re shopping for those upcoming holiday gifts, birthday and wedding presents, just remember your Fair Trade options.  Empowering laborers. Living wages. Sustainable work. That’s fair.

Thanks to Wikipedia for info on Labor day and such.

Entry filed under: Fair Trade Helps People. Tags: fair trade, labor day, shopping.