This Labor Day and the week long celebration of labor rights and unionism and social progress resulting from the combined strength of organized workers was on display across the country. The many photos of these events in this issue of the Label Letter present a glimpse of the pride workers take in their unions, their work and accomplishments of organized action.
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said Labor Day is not about mattress sales. It is about the success of working people and their unions in gaining better wages, benefits and working conditions for themselves and social advances in their communities and the nation. It has always been about the struggle of workers to win better lives for themselves and their families and others.
Also evident at the labor events, parades and rallies: opposition to government-by-billionaire attacks on unions, free speech and civil rights. The Trump Administration’s cancellation of union rights for hundreds of thousands of dedicated civil servants was clearly on the minds of participants who had to wonder,
“Who’s next?”
Signs and banners called for fair treatment and a protest against oligarchs in control of vital government functions. The Trump Administration is corrupting the institutions of government, enabling self-dealing and putting national assets up for sale. The protections of the US Civil Service are under attack. The Labor Movement at-large faces an assault as corporations take government actions as their model.
The photos on display in this issue signal the will and the energy of workers and their unions to confront power. The momentum seen at these events should be channeled into continued activism to protect what we have, to regain the rights lost by our fellow workers and to demonstrate our determination to fight injustice.
