Today, our team at NPI hon­ors and thanks the mil­lions of work­ing peo­ple over the course of Amer­i­can and Cana­di­an his­to­ry whose col­lec­tive strug­gle for bet­ter pay and work­ing con­di­tions have lift­ed up fam­i­lies and com­mu­ni­ties all over the world.

Labor Day, estab­lished in the late nine­teenth cen­tu­ry, was born out of the union move­ment. It’s a day to rec­og­nize the immense con­tri­bu­tions and sac­ri­fices of our work­ers. The hol­i­day has always been a tes­ta­ment to the endur­ing spir­it of the work­ing class, but as we approach anoth­er pres­i­den­tial elec­tion year in a chal­leng­ing and tumul­tuous era for our coun­try, it has spe­cial significance.

In the face of a rapid­ly chang­ing glob­al land­scape, the resilience and adapt­abil­i­ty of work­ing peo­ple have been test­ed like nev­er before. The last few years have wit­nessed shifts towards dig­i­ti­za­tion, remote work, and gig work. While these changes brought along numer­ous oppor­tu­ni­ties, they have also posed challenges.

For­tu­nate­ly, young work­ers are demon­strat­ing lead­er­ship in the face of these chal­lenges. They aren’t wait­ing for events to shape them. They’re step­ping up.

“A few weeks ago, I stood on the streets of New York City with work­ing actors, per­form­ers and writ­ers from SAG-AFTRA and the Writ­ers Guild of Amer­i­ca who have been on strike for months now: risk­ing their liveli­hoods to win a fair con­tract for them­selves and all who come after,” said AFL-CIO Pres­i­dent Liz Shuler in a Labor Day essay. “We chant­ed. We walked the pick­et line. But what inspired me most was when work­ing peo­ple all around us — over­whelm­ing­ly young work­ers, in their 20s and 30s — saw what was hap­pen­ing and joined in.”

“These young work­ers are com­ing into the move­ment because they know a union on the job is an act of defi­ance against the sta­tus quo,” Shuler added. “Because our agen­da is their agen­da: We deliv­er good-pay­ing, sta­ble jobs. Jobs that are safe. Jobs that do not leave you bounc­ing from gig work to gig work. And because we use our pow­er beyond the work­place: to stand up for our democ­ra­cy, pro­tect against A.I. that dehu­man­izes and degrades work, and take on the cli­mate cri­sis. Young work­ers know what all work­ers know: It’s bet­ter in a union.”

“I promised to be the most pro-union Pres­i­dent in his­to­ry, and I firm­ly believe that every work­er in Amer­i­ca should have the free and fair choice to join a union or orga­nize and bar­gain col­lec­tive­ly with their employ­er with­out coer­cion or intim­i­da­tion,” said Pres­i­dent Joe Biden in a 2023 Labor Day procla­ma­tion.

“That is because when orga­nized labor wins, our Nation wins. My Admin­is­tra­tion will con­tin­ue to sup­port and encour­age labor unions so that work­ers have a seat at the deci­sion-mak­ing table, an oppor­tu­ni­ty to speak truth to pow­er, and the sup­port to fight for the dig­ni­ty and respect they deserve.”

“On Labor Day, we stand in sol­i­dar­i­ty with all the work­ers who lift our Nation to new heights and all the labor unions who give all work­ers pow­er and voice. May we con­tin­ue work­ing to restore the Amer­i­can Dream for every per­son will­ing to work hard in our Nation by embrac­ing what has always been the foun­da­tion of our country’s suc­cess: invest­ing in Amer­i­ca and Amer­i­can workers.”

For those of us who enjoy the free­dom not to have to work today, let’s take a moment to reflect on some of the val­ues that Labor Day embodies:

1. Respect for Every Job: From the farm­work­ers who har­vest our food to the machin­ists who build our planes and the teach­ers who edu­cate our kids, every job mat­ters, and deserves our respect and appreciation.
2. Sol­i­dar­i­ty: Labor Day emerged from the labor union move­ments which were ground­ed in the prin­ci­ple of sol­i­dar­i­ty. In today’s frag­ment­ed world, this sense of uni­ty is more cru­cial than ever. It reminds us that when we stand togeth­er, our col­lec­tive strength can move mountains.
3. Adapt­abil­i­ty: If there’s one thing the past few years have taught us, it’s the impor­tance of adapt­abil­i­ty. The world changes, indus­tries evolve, and new chal­lenges arise. Our work­ers’ will­ing­ness to adapt and inno­vate is cru­cial to keep­ing the Unit­ed States and Cana­da eco­nom­i­cal­ly competitive.
4. Rest and Bal­ance: While hard work is com­mend­able, it’s equal­ly essen­tial to rec­og­nize the impor­tance of self-care, relax­ation, and spend­ing time with fam­i­ly and friends. Pro­duc­tive work keeps the econ­o­my hum­ming, but all of us deserve rest and reju­ve­na­tion. It’s a right that past work­ers have sac­ri­ficed a lot to estab­lish and expand. At NPI, we believe that all work­ers should have paid med­ical leave, paid fam­i­ly leave, and paid vaca­tion leave.

With our nation approach­ing yet anoth­er mon­u­men­tal­ly con­se­quen­tial elec­tion, it’s essen­tial to remem­ber the lessons from our past. The his­to­ry of Labor Day is replete with sto­ries of strug­gle, resilience, and tri­umph. As we face new chal­lenges, these sto­ries serve as a bea­con, guid­ing us towards a brighter future.

So, this Labor Day, as you bite into that burg­er or enjoy a game with your fam­i­ly, take a moment to salute Amer­i­can and Cana­di­an work­ers. Their ded­i­ca­tion, hard work, and spir­it have built North Amer­i­ca into what it is today.

Again, Hap­py Labor Day!