How Labor Day Became a Tool to Pacify Revolutionaries

Unmasking Labor Day reveals the hidden struggles and ongoing fight for workers’ rights.

A defiant group of laborers fiercely protest during a strike, highlighting the intense struggle for workers’ rights during the labor movement. “Depression Era Strike” created using Google Image FX.

Today, we wake up not to the incessant shriek of an alarm but to the restful yawn of a sleepy Monday morning. No need to spring out of bed and race to the bathroom. No need to shit, shave, and shower in 10 minutes or less to then wolf our breakfast. Work! Work! Work! Not today.

Today, we joyfully whistle our morning song as we roll slowly out of bed. It’s the first Monday in September — probably the only Monday we look forward to. Today, it’s Labor Day.

What is Labor Day? It’s our celebration, the working class, where we rest from our shitty careers and pointless jobs. One day where we fire up the grill and we…. Who am I kidding? It’s the 21st century. Few Americans will set flame to charcoal today. We’re sick with depression, and it’s costing the country $51 billion in absenteeism and lost productivity, along with $26 billion in direct treatment costs. But this is a topic for another occasion.

What is Labor Day? In a nutshell, it was the tool to pacify revolutionaries. In a longer version, it was the brainchild of some nervous politician cornered by bold individuals willing to risk it all for the working class.