Labor Day weekend in America has come to signify the official end of summer, highlighted by students across the country returning to school, the kickoff of the NCAA football season and a wonderful three-day weekend full of barbecues, picnics and one less Monday at work.
Growing up in Iowa, we usually returned to school on the Wednesday before Labor Day weekend, so we had a short week and then an immediate three-day weekend. I think that is a nice way to slowly transition away from the total freedom of summer break to the rigors of an academic school year. However, modern educators do not agree. My grandchildren, Logan and Lola Hasten, both started school on Aug. 13. I guess things really were better back when I was a kid.
Labor Day is one of 11 federal holidays, and it is recognized on the first Monday in September to celebrate “the social and economic achievements of American workers,” according to the Department of Labor. While Labor Day in modern times is associated with picnics and parties, it wasn’t always that way. Labor Day grew out of the labor movement and was a means to quell rising violent protests by American workers who were fighting for better hours, safer working conditions and better pay.
The Industrial Revolution was in full swing in the late 1800s; America’s primarily agricultural economy was being replaced with one of industry, and working conditions were harsh. The average worker was expected to work a 12-hour day, seven days a week, often in unsafe conditions with pay that barely allowed them to live. Child labor was also very common during this period.
In response, labor unions began to form, advocating for eight-hour workdays, safer conditions and pay that allowed a better standard of living. To raise attention to these issues, they organized protests and strikes, which became increasingly violent.
One of the most infamous incidents was the Haymarket Riot. In May of 1886, a national strike for eight-hour workdays turned violent when police showed up to break up the protest and an unknown person hurled a bomb into the crowd. Seven police officers were killed and 60 others wounded with several civilian casualties as well.
In 1893, during a nationwide recession, George Pullman — maker of luxury railcars and founder of the company town bearing his name — laid off hundreds of workers and cut wages without reducing rents. In May 1894, workers walked out, and the Pullman Strike quickly spread, disrupting rail traffic nationwide.
To ease tensions, Congress passed legislation in June 1894 making the first Monday in September a federal holiday. President Grover Cleveland signed it into law. However, during a gathering to gain support for the strike, the crowd grew violent and burned railroad cars and derailed a locomotive attached to a U.S. mail car.
Interference with the delivery of the mail, coupled with the significant national economic impact of the strike, prompted Attorney General Richard Olney to issue a federal injunction against the strike. President Cleveland sent in federal troops. Strikers became even more violent and destructive in clashes with the federal troops. This resulted in the troops opening fire on the angry mob, killing as many as 30 protestors. Ultimately, the strike failed but it brought national attention to the issues that workers were protesting.
You might ask, what does this have to do with my electric cooperative? The same labor issues and lack of support for workers that were the catalyst for Labor Day are also the reasons that cooperatives were formed.
In 1844, a group of 28 weavers in Rochdale, England, formed the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers in response to low wages, long hours and exorbitant prices at the company store, where many of the products were being adulterated with impurities to cut costs and raise profits. These 28 men each contributed 1 British pound and formed a grocery cooperative so their families could get healthy and affordable food.
To govern their cooperative, they designed the Rochdale Principles, which are the foundational principles that electric cooperatives operate by. These principles are the “Cooperative Difference” and what separate the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas from other electric utilities: We put members first and not profits.
What are these principles?
- 1. Open and voluntary membership;
- 2. Democratic member control;
- 3. Members’ economic participation;
- 4. Autonomy and independence;
- 5. Education, training and information;
- 6. Cooperation among cooperatives; and
- 7. Concern for community.
These principles are so important to me that I look at them every day. The photo used for this article is a picture of the wall directly in front of my desk — it is in my direct line of sight.
Electric cooperatives value members and our employees, who labor every day as a part of our cooperative system. It is because of their dedication and hard work that we can be Reliable, Affordable and Responsible for our members, and it is why I truly believe that we are all Better Connected, Together in this wonderful cooperative system.
No matter how you plan to enjoy your Labor Day weekend — whether it’s watching fireworks on Lake Hamilton; or watching the Razorbacks battle Alabama A&M on opening day; or a medieval feast at the Renaissance Festival in Mount Vernon; or maybe just a backyard barbecue and enjoying a work-free Monday — I hope that you take just a moment to remember those who came before us, who advocated on behalf of American workers and their families to bring us this Labor Day weekend.