Labor Day 2020

Oh, the troubles Labor has seen

“Capital still pats labor on th’ back, but on’y with an axe. Labor ray-fuses to be threated as a frind. It wants to be threated as an inimy. It thinks it gets more that way. They are still a happy fam’ly, but it’s more like an English fam’ly. They don’t speak.”

— Mr. Dooley

Think of all the countries that have an entire political party described as Labor. They have one, and sometimes more than one, in Australia, Brazil, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, the UK . . . . In Poland they call it Labor United. Maybe to distinguish it from labor divided? Some countries have a New Labour, with the “u,” as if labor wasn’t as old as mankind.

America tried out a Labor Party once.

Once.

On these shores we celebrate labor as a means to an end, maybe a stage that we pass through from the car wash in high school to pizza jobs in college to something with a 401(k) later. And then, maybe, dare we say, into the realm of capitalism as other people go to work for us. That is, on our way to being “in business.” Which makes this country move.

Labor isn’t a political party here. Labor is something we do, not who we are. Labor isn’t a party but a reason. To party, that is.

We don’t vote for labor here. In this New World, we don’t cotton much to the idea of labor as a permanent class. Besides, who represents labor in America? The Republicans or the Democrats or the Libertarians or the Socialists or the independents or some other party that will crop up tomorrow, claiming to represent the workers?

Is there any way to walk into a factory in the United States of America and determine a body’s political party by the job they’re doing? Not in this country. There are many workers in America who don’t begrudge the Buffetts or the Gateses a thing. And may aspire to join their tax brackets one day.

Being good Americans, today we will celebrate labor . . . by taking the day off work. And what will we do on our day off work? Being good Americans, we’ll work. (“The business of America is business.” — Coolidge, C.)

Sure, only a few will actually go to jobs. Pilots have to fly, pharmacists have to pharmy. And emergency rooms won’t staff themselves. But most of us will celebrate this last bit of summer by washing the car, or emptying the gutters, or painting the deck, or changing the oil. Only then will we do the important stuff. Like cooking.

What’ll it be today, America? How about an all-around American meal like omelets for breakfast, pizza for lunch and stir-fry for supper? And let the kids make some finger foods like egg rolls and seven-layer Mexican dip to nibble on throughout the day. Talk about taking pleasure in labor! Make sure the kids save some for later.

In this year of a pandemic crisis, labor hasn’t disappeared, but much of it has moved. As long as business exists in the United States, it will need labor. Even if technology has allowed many people to work at their jobs from home.

And thank God for that. Imagine the pandemic coming in, say, 1992 — before many of us had computers at home. Or at least computers that could be connected to the Internet, and thus our employers. It would have been nigh-impossible to socially distance at all.

But whenever Americans start feeling sorry for themselves — all these Zoom meetings! — we can look back at how things were, and how Labor evolved to something we celebrate today.

Think workers have it tough now? Imagine reading the papers in late March 1911, as the reports kept piling up the dead in New York City after the Triangle Shirtwaist fire. Imagine picking up the new book “The Jungle” and finding it believable. Or finding similarities between “The Grapes of Wrath” and your own life.

When asked what Labor wanted, Samuel Gompers — its leader and guiding light — said: More. And that’s what Labor has gotten over the years: More. And, it should be said, that’s what Labor has produced over the years: More.

Even though many Americans might have doubts about the politics of unions, labor is still held as a virtue. What else would you expect from a frontier country? Even before capital-L Labor, there was lowercase-l labor, which felled trees and built railroads and sent crops to market.

Eventually, labor turned into Labor, and found its voice. And demanded a day, like today, just to celebrate its victories. For once upon a time, children, folks had to take to the streets to demand an eight-hour work day. (Eight hours for work, eight hours for sleep, eight hours for what-you-please!)

There are a lot of us who’d change the politics of modern labor unions, but few can deny what the early unions accomplished. We’d again refer you to “The Grapes of Wrath” for a reminder.

In this year of our American discontent, maybe we should look back at how things have changed so dramatically in this country since the early days of Labor. And know that things can get better, if Americans demand it.

We can demand social justice — because we have before. We can demand fairness — because we have before. And we can demand that once this virus is licked, and it will be, we can all get back to normal work.

For all of our teasings about Monday mornings, Americans yearn to get back to normal work. We ache for it. And not only for a paycheck (most of those are still coming), but also because creating, making, manufacturing, constructing — producing — has so many other rewards.

Which is why so many will prepare the fall garden today. Not to celebrate a holiday, but for exhilaration and health. And for broccoli and cauliflower.

Somebody said the other day that Americans would be smart to prepare Zoom meetings for Thanksgiving. The hell we will. We can celebrate our very American holidays even in 2020 by being smart and helpful — but celebrate we will. We’ll figure out a way. Americans always have.

Happy Labor Day.