By Tony Speelman
@aspeel1500
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| Tony Speelman, President UFCW Local 1500 |
While most Americans view Labor Day as the last long
weekend of the summer and another day off work, this is the one day we should
all stop for a minute and recognize the countless number of men and women
across New York who make our community work. From workers at Stop & Shop to
Fairway, these amazing people are dedicated and passionate, sacrifice for the
good of others, and are committed to creating a better life for themselves and
their families.
Jerome Gomez, a UFCW Local 1500 member working at Fairway
Market, regularly donates blood to help his community. Or take a look at Georgette
Wilson a UFCW Local 1500 members from Stop & Shop, who besides fundraising and
walking each year for cancer charities like the Making Strides Against Breast
Cancer Walk and the Light the Night Walk, she travels to Albany every year to
fight for better legislation to help New York workers and to help her
community. These are the true every day heroes of Labor Day.
While these stories may not be new, they are rarely given
the media attention that a vacuous celebrity, lying athlete, or misbegotten
politician can attract with a single tweet. While that may speak to a failure
in our culture, we have opportunity on Labor Day to remember and acknowledge
what this day is truly about. It’s about workers. It’s about real people. In
fact, the the history behind this misunderstood holiday was actually a result
of one of the most intense and violent struggles for workers’ rights.
In 1894, during a time of
severe economic and social unrest, thousands of workers at the Pullman Palace Car Company in Chicago went
on strike to protest the way George Pullman, founder and president of the company,
treated his workers. To put down the strike, Pullman gained the support of
President Grover Cleveland, who ordered federal troops to intervene—leading to
a bloody confrontation and the deaths of more than 30 Pullman workers. Soon
afterwards and amid growing criticism of the brutal response to the striking
workers, President Cleveland established Labor Day as a national holiday in an
effort to appease organized labor.
It’s been 122 years since the Pullman Strike, and our country is still
grappling with economic divisions and social unrest.
Today, millions of hard-working Americans are struggling like never before
in low-paying jobs with erratic schedules
and little to no benefits.
It
is the sad reality that, in addition to stagnant wages and incomes, too many of
America’s workers face dangerous workplaces, exploitation, and mistreatment
every single day. Many are also too afraid to reach for a better life because
of threats from an irresponsible employer or they are conditioned to believe
that they have not earned the opportunity for something more.
Here
in New York, hard-working men and women who choose to become part of a union
family soon realize they need not struggle alone. In Westbury UFCW Local 1500
represents workers at Stop & Shop, Food Bazaar, Tops Markets, Fairway
Market, Key Food, Gristedes, D’Agostino, ShopRite, King Kullen and PeaPod.
Whether
someone is a union member or not, the fact is that no one in America should
have to struggle alone. Every hard-working person deserves a better life
because they’ve earned it.
This
Labor Day and in the days leading up to Election Day, we have a responsibility
to speak out for each other and our communities. We can start by honoring the sacrifices
working people here in New York City that have made to our shared prosperity of
New York and this country.
Yet,
if we are really going to change this nation for the better, it must begin with
all of us realizing that Labor Day is not about one last summery day. Rather, it’s
about the day where we all realize the power we have to come together and
define a better future for all hard-working families.
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