The annual Labor Day celebration, which unofficially signals the end of summer and gives families one last opportunity to get together with friends and family the day before the school year starts in some communities if it hasn’t already, honored the nearly 160 million workers in the United States on Monday.
The holiday was created in 1894 as a tribute to American laborers who frequently endured difficult working conditions in the late 19th century, including 12-hour days, seven days a week, and poor pay for physically taxing work. Today, the holiday is celebrated with home barbecues, a few parades, and a day of rest.
While labor conflicts over wages and working conditions are still frequent in the United States, such as the current labor discussions over 146,000 autoworkers’ contracts that are about to expire, many labor conflicts have changed to reflect modern issues that go beyond wages.
Because of the coronavirus epidemic, several companies are fighting with their white-collar workers over whether they should be obliged to return to work full-time or at least part-time after working primarily from home for more than three years. Other disagreements have arisen regarding the emerging use of artificial intelligence, how it impacts the output, and whether or not employees risk losing their employment as a result of its use.
Although the number of American workers who are unionized has been falling for years, there are still over 14 million of them. Democrats rely on it for consistent electoral support, but some more conservative employees in some factory towns have switched allegiances to Republicans, despite the fact that their union leaders still largely favor Democratic politicians.
