Labor Day

An Important Holiday for Your Happy Life

Workers from different organizations and industries chant slogans as they march in a rally, demanding improvement of conditions in their workplaces, Sunday, May 1, 2005, in Lahore, Pakistan. from http://www.dismalworld.com.

When it comes to celebrating happy lives, Labor Day may be our most important and universal holiday. This internationally celebrated holiday pays tribute to the contributions workers make to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of a country and honors those workers who band together to fight for better working conditions.

Poverty, hopelessness, and oppression are universal killers of joy. While it is true that some people living in poverty are happy, research shows a strong increase in happiness when all basic needs for food and shelter are met and when people live in societies where they feel they have some control over their own future. Labor unions have done more to raise the standard of living of more people world-wide than any other type of organization.

Samuel Gompers, the first and longest-serving president of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) said:

What does labor want? We want more schoolhouses and less jails; more books and less arsenals; more learning and less vice; more leisure and less greed; more justice and less revenge; in fact, more of the opportunities to cultivate our better natures.

Organized labor has fought for and won tremendous victories in this area including:

Increased wages that allow workers to meet their needs for food and shelter
An 8 hour work day
Child labor laws

Labor is Life Postage Stamp

The US Department of Labor, on their website, acknowledges the success of these unions with this statement:
The vital force of labor added materially to the highest standard of living and the greatest production the world has ever known and has brought us closer to the realization of our traditional ideals of economic and political democracy. It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation pay tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation’s strength, freedom, and leadership - the American worker.

Andy Stern, the former president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), said:
The labor movement has been a great institution. It has created what Americans are most proud of, and that’s the greatest middle class in the world.

That strong middle class does more than increase the happiness of its workers. A strong, educated middle class with equal rights for women creates stability, peace and prosperity in society. Despite consistent research that a strong middle class benefits everyone, rich and poor alike, in a stronger economy and a more peaceful world, the cause of labor has often been confused with communism.

Cover of the book, The Spiral of Violence, written by Bishop Camara in 1971.

Dom Helder Camara, Archbishop of Recife, Brazil said:
When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.

Some other proponents of the labor movement as a benefit to society as a whole include:

Business, labor and civil society organizations have skills and resources that are vital in helping to build a more robust global community.
Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations and Nobel Peace Prize winner.

International solidarity is not an act of charity: It is an act of unity between allies fighting on different terrains toward the same objective. The foremost of these objectives is to aid the development of humanity to the highest level possible.
Samora Moïsés Machel, revolutionary socialist leader and President of Mozambique.

If you give me a fish, you have fed me for a day. If you teach me to fish, then you have fed me until the river is contaminated or the shoreline seized for development. But if you teach me how to organize, then whatever the challenge I can join together with my peers and we will fashion our own solution.
Ricardo Levins Morales, labor artist http://www.rlmarts.com/

President Linclon's Picture on a US $5.00 Bill

We must learn to live together as brothers or we are going to perish together as fools.
Martin Luther King, Jr., Civil Rights Leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.
Abraham Lincoln, US President during the US Civil War, author of the Emancipation Proclamation freeing US slaves

Opportunity for Happy Leadership

Historic Photo Detroit USA Labor Day Parade 1942

Historic Photo of the Labor Day Parade in Detroit, Michigan, USA 1942

Albert Einstein said,
Many times a day I realize how much my own life is built upon the labors of my fellowmen, and how earnestly I must exert myself in order to give in return as much as I have received.

Labor Day is an opportunity to spread happiness throughout the world by showing leadership in recognizing the importance of strong, healthy, empowered working people the world over. In this fast paced, interconnected world, our most important resource is our time and attention. When we acknowledge and honor the contributions of others with gratitude, we not only lift up our own souls, but show lead the way for others to do the same.

In the US, we often celebrate Labor Day by not working. Perhaps this is an indication that we now take the benefits of organized labor for granted as our right. Or perhaps, as Thomas De Witt Talmage, an American preacher and journalist in the late 1800's, predicted:

Niagra Bridge
http://www.adamandlyn.co.uk

The distance between capital and labor is not a great gulf over which is swung a Niagara suspension bridge; it is only a step, and the laborers here will cross over and become capitalists and the capitalists will cross over and become laborers. Would to God they would shake hands while they are crossing, these from one side, and those from the other side.

None the less, the cruel conditions that spawned the labor movement during the industrial revolution in the US- child labor, unsafe working conditions, long hours for pay that does not provide the basic necessities of life- still exist in many parts of the world.

Anupam Nath/Associated Press
News about child labor, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

You can lead the way to a happier and more peaceful world by celebrating the spirit of Labor Day. Perhaps you will follow Albert Einstein's example by thinking about and being grateful for the benefits you get from the labor of others. Or, perhaps you will spend time or money on Labor Day supporting one of the many labor organizations or charitable organizations that support workers worldwide. Or, you might use Labor Day as an opportunity to talk to your friends and family about labor and the many benefits it has brought you.

The important thing is to spend a little time during the holiday to stay true to the purpose and pay tribute to the contributions workers make to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of your country and honor those workers who band together to fight for better conditions for all.

Celebrate Labor Day as a happy holiday for your happy life.

Other Holidays on Happy Life U include:

Earth Day Reasons to Celebrate Earth Day
Martin Luther King Day Celebrate this Civil Rights Hero.
Labor DayWhy Labor Day is Important for Your Happy Life.
Mother's Day
- Mother's Day Ways to express appriciation to your Mother.
- Mother's Day Quotes
- How to Appreciate Your Mother
- Mother Enthusiasm
Father's Day Ten Reasons to Appreciate Dad and Celebrate Father's Day.
Halloween Masquerade as an Angel
Veteran's Day or Memorial Day
- How to Thank a Veteran
- Act of Remembrance
Thanksgiving
- Thanksgiving How to increase happiness with a whole day of gratitude.
- Thanksgiving Games Use these games to increase gratitude in a group any time of year.
Christmas
- Christmas Season in Tough Times How to make the most of the gift giving season in an economic downturn.
- Deck the Halls
- Sing Joy
New Year Begin the New Year Sparkling Like a Star

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Make the most of your happy holidays by incorporating the elements of happiness with these articles: