It’s Labor Day!

For most of my life, I’ve attempted to champion American workers. We are a nation built on the backs of workers. The United States is the land of the free, not the freeloader. My dad, a Renaissance man, was the ultimate “rags to riches” story. In the photo, taken near the end of his life, he is resting in a memory quilt I designed and sewed for him. 

Dad worked hard and believed in labor unions. He taught my sister and me the value of work and workers. On this Labor Day, I pay tribute to my father and to all the labor union activists who made life easier for laborers–skilled and unskilled. 

Many big companies have taken advantage of their workers. CEOs have seen their pay grow 1,000 percent in the last forty years. In the same time period, workers’s pay rose 11.9 percent. CEOs make 278 times the average worker. Fair? I think not, and we are all paying the price for that now. People are refusing to work for wages too low to make ends meet and that hurts us all. I pray we work together to bridge the gap. Let’s keep the American Dream alive.

In addition to my father, I pay tribute to Cesar Estrada Chavez, Eugene Victor Debs, Arthur Joseph Goldberg, Samuel Gompers, Mother Jones, John L. Lewis, Lucy Randolph Mason, George Meany, Frances Perkins, Ester E. Peterson, and Kate Mullany on this Labor Day. I’d like to suggest if you don’t know what any of these people did to help the American worker, you Google them.

In the photo, taken on my recent trip to the Adirondack Region of New York State, Mother is selecting a burger from a menu. Because of COVID, she hasn’t been able to go out for lunch. Luckily, this restaurant offered outdoor seating. 

Things change in a week. If you pray, please pray for my mother. Mom worked hard all her life. At ninety-three, she is resting in the hospital after suffering from another heart attack. She needs prayers. 

Have a safe Labor Day. Remember why we celebrate laborers.