Happy Labor Day

There are people in this country who work hard every day.
Not for fame or fortune do they strive.
But the fruits of their labor are worth more than their pay.
-Alabama, Forty Hour Week (For a Livin')

As Americans enjoy much-appreciated time off from work and school, it is important to remember that Labor Day is about the hard working members of our civil society that fuel the economy and make up the backbone of our culture.

Most of us come from families that can appreciate the value of hard work, and the struggle that our parents and grandparents went through to put our families where they are today. My grandfather marched with Patton's Army during World War II, came back and put blood, sweat, and tears into his farm so that my mom could go to college and become a school teacher; she is the G/T coordinator for my hometown school district. My other grandfather worked three decades on the Little Rock Fire Department, and my dad followed in his footsteps and today is a Captain for the LRFD. Their hard work put my family where we are today.

In our government, the Department of Labor protects job site safety, wages, and employment benefits. It also helps the unemployed find work, and those who have been laid off become re-employed. Labor unions around the country help protect these same workers' rights, and keep jobs and production here in America. In 1970, Labor Secretary George P. Schultz helped diversify labor unions as an extension of the American civil rights movement.

The labor movement and the hard-working Americans that toil every day to make our country better deserve recognition and the respect of a grateful country. But more importantly, they deserve our support in their efforts to protect the rights of workers across America, and to continue to make the American workforce the best in the world.

Happy Labor Day.

In solidarity,
Will