Susanna Howard
Susanna Howard is a Library Assistant in the Reference and Local History department at CDPL
Monday, September 4, is Labor Day, a federal holiday honoring working people in the United States. It also recognizes the achievements of the labor movement toward ensuring fair pay and safe working conditions.
To make these changes, labor unions, workers united by a common trade or employer, negotiate as an organized group in a technique called “collective bargaining”. The idea is that any one person asking for change can be replaced, but the entire workforce asking together must be listened to. As part of the bargaining process, workers may strike or call for a boycott of the company to make their demands heard.
The past few years have been historic for the labor movement. Starbucks and Amazon employees have unionized. Screenwriters went on strike on May 2 of this year over insufficient residual payments for streamed content, with the actors’ union following in July. Teamsters, hospitality workers, and more are pushing for better conditions across the board.
Labor Day is frequently celebrated more as the last day of summer than for its political associations. The labor movement has a long and complicated history, and public opinion is often divided. Early goals such as limiting the workday to eight hours and banning child labor are weighed against disruptive, sometimes violent strikes and charges of corruption.
If you want to learn more about the history of the labor movement, its current state, and relevant laws and rights, visit the Labor Day book display at the library. Highlights include the biography of Terre Haute native, five-time presidential candidate, and leader of the American Railway Union, Eugene V. Debs: Citizen and Socialist (921 Debs, E.), the legal drama of You Don’t Own Me: How Mattel v. MGA Entertainment Exposed Barbie’s Dark Side (346.73 Lob), and Dolores (DVD 331.478 Dol), a documentary about Dolores Huerta, who led farm workers to unionize alongside Cesar Chavez. See also The Essential Guide to Federal Employment Laws (344.7301 Gue) and The Employee Rights Handbook: Effective Legal Strategies to Protect Your Job from Interview to Pink Slip (344.7301 Sac).
Check out what’s happening on our website at www.cdpl.lib.in.us or call us at 765-362-2242. The library is open Monday-Thursday 9a-9p, Friday-Saturday 9a-5p, and Sunday 1-5p.
The information in this article has been taken from The Associated Press and The World Book Encyclopedia.
