Authored by Jeremy Lott via The Epoch Times,
Labor Day, celebrated this year on Sept. 7, is a holiday in transition.
It was created by American labor unions in the 1880s. The federal government recognizing it as a national holiday under President Grover Cleveland helped unions to gain prominence.
Yet as unionization has declined, so too has the close association of the day with organized labor.
The Department of Labor's website now calls it an "annual celebration of the social and economic achievements of American workers."
Nelson Rivera of New York City is one such worker. He is an assistant supervisor in maintenance, a field he has toiled in for 23 years.
"Labor Day to me is just celebrating people that've been working all their lives, like 20 and 30 years," he told The Epoch Times.
He said it was a day to "cook out with my family, have a good time with them, and relax."
For many working families like Rivera's, the Labor Day cookout is a regular event.
It's also the occasion for many sales, the moment fashionistas have designated to mark the shift to fall colors, and the holiday after which many schools start.
Even that last part has faded, however, with the Pew Research Center finding in 2023 that more than 70 percent of students now start earlier.
America is less organized around Labor Day because American workers are less organized by unions than t
