Walking in the Valley A weekly column for those who live and walk in Silicon Valley by Barbara Dahlgren

Ah, Labor Day! The hiking, biking, jogging, picnicking, music festivals, hubbub of activity! It's our one last chance at a good time in pretty weather for the year. It used to mean parades and speeches but now it's a day off to play. What better way to honor the working class of America!

Origins of the holiday differ from account to account. Some say Peter McGuire and others say Matthew Maguire suggested it. Both were labor leaders and working class citizens in the late 1800s. However, most agree that the very first Labor Day was celebrated in 1882 in New York City by the Central Labor Union who urged those in other cities to follow their example of a "workingmen's holiday." Other cities did. And then there is the controversy that Grover Cleveland used harsh methods in handling the Pullman company strike. With an election year coming he and Congress quickly passed legislation and Labor Day was born. The working class must not have been appeased. He lost the election.

"Labor" makes me think of pain, agony, hard work, childbirth. The common man's journey in the work force has been filled with "labor pains." The working class of Cleveland's time had a lot to be upset about. If they had had a 40-hour workweek they would have felt like they were on vacation. People were working 10, 12, 16- hour days in horrible conditions for peanuts. Men, women, and children worked in hot weather, cold weather, with little heat, no fans, no ventilation, unsanitary conditions, low wages, unequal pay, no time off, and in buildings that were firetraps.

Congress didn't create the U.S. Department of Labor until 1913. Their goal was to "foster, promote and develop the welfare of working people, to improve their working conditions, and to enhance their opportunities for profitable employment." And this gave many more opportunities to people like this quote indicates: "This American system of ours, call it Americanism, call it Capitalism, call it what you like, gives each and everyone of us a great opportunity if we only seize it with both hands and make the most of it." Al Capone.

The Bible promotes having a healthy work ethic, paying a good wage, enjoying life, and using your money wisely. It's full of principles like: If you don't work, you don't eat. (2 Thessalonians 3:10) A laborer is worthy of his hire. (Luke 10:7) Enjoy life and eat of the fruit of your labor. (Psalms 128:2) Don't steal money but work for it and give some to others. (Ephesians 4:28) And my personal favorite, "Go to the ant, thou sluggard!" (Proverbs 6:6)

But the Bible also talks about labor that is in vain. Unless God is involved in our lives, we do labor in vain. (Psalms 127:1) And only God can give us true rest from our labor. (Matthew 11:28)

I'm a working class person. Labor Day was designed for me. Some folks spend this day laboring harder at playing than they do at their regular jobs. But not me! I don't intend to labor in vain. In fact I don't intend to labor at all. I intend to use this day doing the greatest American pastime of all. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz….. Wake me in time for the barbecue!

©September 2001

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