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Midterm elections
Labor Day
So much more than an end-of-summer bash
Labor Day. A three-day weekend in the US. The last big party of the summer. A day to honor those who labor. It’s good to see people enjoying themselves.
Of course, there are those who have to work on Labor Day — doctors, nurses, police and firefighters. Most of these people receive extra pay for working the holidays.
But more and more workers are working on holidays and not getting a little extra in their paychecks. The person ringing up your Labor Day Sale items, the person working in the liquor store or grocery store, the janitors cleaning these buildings, the servers in the restaurants. There is no holiday pay for many of them. Most of them are working for minimum wage.
Labor activists suffered, and died, for many of the things we take for granted in the US, like a 40-hour work week, safety regulations in factories, and an end to child labor.