September 5, 2010

DO YOU KNOW WHAT LABOR DAY IS ALL ABOUT?

Ask a few people over the weekend what Labor Day means, and you will get some variation of these answers:

It's the end of summer. It is the day we take that last trip to the beach or lake before settling in for the long haul. It is the day we kick off the political season and go see a parade. It means the kickoff of NFL season this week.

As a child, Labor Day was associated with two things: A trip to my grandparents in Aynor and Galivants Ferry, and the Southern 500. On most Labor Day late afternoons we passed by the "Track Too Tough To Tame" where action outside the track was nearly as colorful as the racing inside, where Fireball Roberts, Fred Lorenzen, Joe Weatherly, Junior Johnson, or Richard Petty were winning or getting their Darlington Stripe on what then was then Turn #4.

In all seriousness, Labor Day is the first Monday in September and was a creation of the labor movement, and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. Every year on this day, there is a national tribute of some kind to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity and well being of the USA.

The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. (Fm US Dept. of Labor)

This Wednesday, I was glancing over the 1908 Methodist Social Creed, and it was right on target 102 years ago as it embodied the true spirit of Labor Day which we will all enjoy this Monday, September 6.

1908 Methodist Social Creed The Methodist Episcopal Church stands:

For equal rights and complete justice for all men in all stations of life.

For the principles of conciliation and arbitration in industrial dissensions.

For the protection of the worker from dangerous machinery, occupational diseases, injuries and mortality.

For the abolition of child labor.

For such regulation of the conditions of labor for women as shall safeguard the physical and moral health of the community.

For the suppression of the "sweating system."

For the gradual and reasonable reduction of the hours of labor to the lowest practical point, with work for all; and for that degree of leisure for all which is the condition of the highest human life

For a release for [from] employment one day in seven.

For a living wage in every industry.

For the highest wage that each industry can afford, and for the most equitable division of the products of industry that can ultimately be devised.

For the recognition of the Golden Rule and the mind of Christ as the supreme law of society and the sure remedy for all social ills