Labor Day means more to me this year than it ever has before.

Published in

Ohio Federation of Teachers

5 min readSep 6, 2020

Labor Day means more to me this year than it ever has before.

Though we always take a pause on the first Monday in September to celebrate workers and to reflect upon the hard-earned victories that labor unions have secured for workers in our country, this year hits close to home because teachers, faculty members, bus drivers, paraprofessionals, children’s services workers, nurses, essential workers and all workers across labor have had their health and lives put in jeopardy due to decision makers pushing aside facts and science in favor putting profits over people. And once again, labor unions, through the collective actions of members in rural areas, small towns, and urban centers, have secured safer working conditions, saving the lives of workers and their families.

Our country has been built upon the backs of workers, but the history has been dark as workers have often been treated as expendable resulting in the deaths of thousands of workers — from the 146 women and girls who died in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fires to the hundreds of men and boys who died in coal mining accidents over the decades to innumerable of other workplace disasters. It has always taken the formation of labor unions and the collective actions of labor union members to demand that value for workers by forcing safer working conditions. Leaders like Mother Jones, Dolores Huerta, Lucy Parsons, Hatty Canty, May Chen, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn have historically fought alongside their labor union brothers and sisters not only for safer working conditions, but also for fair pay, benefits, work-life balance, a voice in the workplace, and many other conditions that we often take for granted.

Yet this year, we were once again reminded that we cannot take workplace safety for granted. While the President of the United States threatened to withhold federal funding if schools did not re-open face-to-face, putting at risk not only teachers and staff but also students and community members, AFT President Randi Weingarten, AFT state Presidents and staff across the nation, and local leaders in every school district have worked collaboratively where possible and fought when necessary to develop re-opening plans that secure safety for members, students, and communities while also continuing to provide an education for our children.

And that has happened across labor as unions from AFSCME to SEIU to UFCW and the hundreds of other unions in-between have fought for personal protective equipment, accommodations for high-risk employees, safety precautions such as masks and social distancing, hazard pay, and anything else that workers have needed to be safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Labor unions and collective bargaining are the lifeline of workers in America. While we celebrate Labor Day this year by commemorating those who have lost their lives and honoring those who were willing to risk everything in order to improve workers’ rights, let us also turn our efforts towards the election over the next two months. Let us commit to each other that when making decisions about voting this year, whether it be for President, Representative, Senator, School Board Member or Supreme Court judge, that we put a heavy emphasis on where the candidates stand on labor unions, collective bargaining, and workers’ rights.

I wish you all a relaxing, enjoyable Labor Day. I know the work since March has been incredibly challenging and stressful and that the months ahead are going to prove to be the same. I truly appreciate all of you who are persevering through these challenges. I want to end though by giving a special thank you to our Local Presidents who have given so much of themselves throughout these unprecedented times:

David Spridgeon — Arcadia Teachers Organization, Local 4783

Eric Valasek — Arlington Teachers Association, Local 4564

Lisa Petrucci — Beachwood Educational Interpreters Union, Local 6358

Dan MacVeigh- Beachwood Union of Support Staff, Local 6840

Desiree Lyonette — Belmont College Faculty Association, Local 6571

Brian Kessler, Berea Federation of Teachers, Local 1699

Kelly Rose, Blanchard Valley Teachers and Instructional Assistants Association, Local 4689

Bryan Trego, Botkins Federation of Teachers, Local 4484

Mary Arp, Brookfield Federation of Teachers, Local 1728

Elizabeth Hasel, Buckeye Local Education Association, Local 4595

Julie Sellers, Cincinnati Federation of Teachers/CFOP, Local 1520

Elizabeth Jones, Cincinnati Federation of Teachers-Retired, Local 1520-R