Welcome to another Friday! Since Monday is Labor Day and today is the start of Labor Day Weekend and I had no idea what to write, I thought I'd give you a brief history of the holiday.
As you can see by Itzl's concerned look, this group is for us to check in at to let people know we are alive, doing OK, and not affected by such things as heat, blizzards, floods, wild fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, power outages, or other such things that could keep us off DKos. It's also so we can find other Kossacks nearby for in-person checks when other methods of communication fail - a buddy system. Members come here to check in. If you're not here, or anywhere else on DKos, and there are adverse conditions in your area (floods, heatwaves, hurricanes, etc.), we and your buddy are going to check up on you. If you are going to be away from your computer for a day or a week, let us know here. We care!
IAN is a great group to join, and a good place to learn to write diaries. Drop one of us a PM to be added to the Itzl Alert Network anytime! We all share the publishing duties, and we welcome everyone who reads IAN to write diaries for the group! Every member is an editor, so anyone can take a turn when they have something to say, photos and music to share, a cause to promote or news!
Ok, we do have a diary schedule. But, when you are ready to write that diary, either post in thread or send FloridaSNMOM a Kosmail with the date. If you need someone to fill in, ditto. FloridaSNMOM is here on and off through the day usually from around 9:30 or 10 am eastern to around 11 pm eastern.
Monday:
BadKitties
Tuesday:
ejoanna
Wednesday:
Caedy
Thursday:
art ah zen
Friday:
FloridaSNMOM
Saturday:
Dave in Northridge
Sunday:
loggersbrat
The celebration of labor day, through municipal ordinances, dates back to 20 years after the end of the civil war. New York was the first state to propose a state Labor Day holiday, but Oregon passed it first in 1887. During the next year four more states passed it, including New York and during the next decade three more had followed. By 1894 23 other States had also adopted it, and on June 28 1894 Congress passed a law making the first Monday in September a legal holiday.
Despite what many commercials would tell you, Labor Day was created by the labor movement and is meant to be a celebration of the American worker, not a day where they work late to promote sales for their companies. It's supposed to be a tribute to how the American worker has increased the strength and well-being of our country. A day to celebrate the workers, not the corporations or the customers, and specifically to celbrate how Labor Unions have benefited this country. Of course now people who are part of the labor union may be the only people getting the day off, other than those who work for banks and in offices who are tied heavily to banks and their functions.
And while you sure won't see headlines on Fox News about the "War on Labor Unions and Labor day", maybe we can take a few minutes out of our busy picnic and shopping schedules to remember the real 'reason for the season'.
Resources:
United States Department of Labor