Labor Day: What does it mean to me?

I’ve been tagged by PSoTD with the question “What does the federal holiday, “Labor Day”, really mean to you?”

To be honest, it doesn’t mean that much to me. It’s a day off work, I suppose. But, since I’m a small business owner, that just means I’ll probably go into work anyway and just get a bit more done since the phones won’t be ringing. But even when I was an employee rather than an employer, it didn’t mean a great deal to me.

It should mean more to me, however. I believe a healthy labor movement leads to a healthier society. I am really not a believer in supply-side/trickle down economics. I think that when wealth becomes concentrated in the ultra-rich hands of a relatively small segment of the society, it tends to distort our markets and our democratic institutions. Certainly, I don’t think the wealth flows easily from the ultra-rich to the middle class. The labor movement helps facilitate that flow.

When society’s wealth is less concentrated in the hands of the ultra rich and spread out a bit more, I think our markets are healthier, our democracy is more robust, and our communities are stronger. I think the economy works better when you have a lot of people buying washers and dryers than it does when a few people are buying Faberge eggs. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not looking for some worker’s paradise or communist utopia. I like the fact that people who work harder or smarter can reap greater rewards, because that also is critical to a healthy economy. But there has to be balance. And labor unions help provide that balance.