Sep 3, 2018
Working People Are People Too
By Kenneth R. Jenkins
Every first Monday in September is a day set aside as a day to celebrate and recognize those we call the “Working Class.”
These are the ones who get up early in the morning day after day to put in those 8 and sometimes 10 hour work days to make sure that their family have a roof over their heads and food on their table I’m talking about those who work all day long and sometimes even in the depths of the night. Pulling in the hours in order to make sure that child or grandchild get a college education as well as way of life than they do now only accepting nothing but the best for them.
Labor Day is a day set aside for those people who value the worth of work and too busy resting on their morals dying. This is a day to be thankful for that job is no matter if pays great or not. It is a day to honor those who keep our country working.
Beginning in the late 19th century, as the trade union and labor movements grew, trade unionists proposed that a day be set aside to celebrate labor. “Labor Day” was promoted by the Central Labor Union and the Knights of Labor, which organized the first parade in New York City. In 1887, Oregon was the first state of the United States to make it an official public holiday. By the time it became an official federal holiday in 1894, thirty states in the United States officially celebrated Labor Day.An alternative thesis is maintained that the idea of Labor Day was the brainchild of Peter J. McGuire, a vice president of the American Federation of Labor, who put forward the initial proposal in the spring of 1882. According to McGuire, on May 8, 1882, he made a proposition to the fledgling Central Labor Union in New York City that a day be set aside for a “general holiday for the laboring classes”. According to McGuire he further recommended that the event should begin with a street parade as a public demonstration of organized labor’s solidarity and strength, with the march followed by a picnic, to which participating local unions could sell tickets as a fundraiser. According to McGuire he suggested the first Monday in September as an ideal date for such a public celebration, owing to optimum weather and the date’s place on the calendar, sitting midway between the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving public holidays. (Wikipedia)
Today as well as everyday, we should appreciate those hard working class blue and some white collar Americans that makes up almost half of our citizens. We’re talking the steel workers, farmers, warehouse workers, construction workers, police officers, fire fighters, emergency workers, school teachers, restaurant workers like cooks, dishwashers, waiters and waitresses, street sweepers, landscapers, window washers, roofers, plumbers, temporary workers and every type of job there is in order to keep our country running efficiently.
One way we can really appreciate our workers is for all the states raise the Living Wages for those workers working the minimum wage or lower. If this done then we can better produce products so that our consumers won’t feel short changed and our working class won’t feel slighted.
We honor those men and women who get out there and go to work each and everyday earning a living instead of taking out of children’s mouths. We honor those who teaches their children the worth a dollar and worth of work and for this we salute you.
Kenneth R. Jenkins is a freelance writer, poet, podcast host/producer, minister, recently retired after 40 years in the work place, devoted husband living in Savannah, GA.
