Local unions celebrate meaning of Labor Day holiday
By JOLENE CRAIG, jcraig@newsandsentinel.comArticle Photos
PARKERSBURG - Local union men celebrate Labor Day and cite how the organizations have benefited the American worker.
"People don't realize it, but without unions, there would be no checks and balances for workers of any kind," said Greg Dotson with the West Virginia Carpenters Local 899 in Parkersburg.
The first Monday of September "constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity and well-being of our country," according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Labor Day was originally meant to celebrate the labor movement and what it achieved for the average worker, but it has since become the celebration of the last long weekend before the chilly weather of fall and winter.
Darrell Miller, of Laborers Union Local Number 1085 in Parkersburg, said unions helped set a five-day work week, 40-hour work weeks, and vacation and sick leave in this country.
"All of what we have wasn't offered to us for free on a platter," Miller said.
The first Labor Day was celebrated on a Tuesday - Sept. 5, 1882, to be exact - in New York City to go along with the plans of the Central Labor Union, according to the DOL Web site (http://www.dol.gov). The next year, the Central Labor Union held the second observance.
It wasn't until 1884 that it was decided the first Monday of September would be the official day for the "workingmen's holiday." The idea caught on and in 1885, Labor Day was celebrated in several areas of America.
In 1894, legislation was passed in Congress and President Grover Cleveland signed the bill to make Labor Day a national holiday.
"Before unions, people worked in the worst conditions possible to be able to feed themselves and their families," Miller said. "If the job required them to lose a foot or a finger, the companies would let them do it without a second thought or remorse."
Miller said more than protests and riots brought about the safety regulations and condition changes workers today enjoy.
"There were bullets fired and people killed to bring us what we have," he said.
Labor Day used to be event-filled with street parades and festivals for workers and their families, while now it's a time for quiet reflection, Dotson said.
"We now use it as a time for reflection to remember the people who came before us and paved the way to make conditions the ones we are fortunate for now," Dotson said.
