As a child growing up in Montana, I viewed Labor Day as a mixed
blessing. Labor Day was a holiday that brought our extended
family together for a picnic or barbeque and frequently one last
trip to Butte’s Columbia Gardens. Labor Day also spelled the end
of summer, a return to salt and pepper cords, the annual trip
uptown for school supplies, the unwelcome return of the alarm
clock, and the end of a carefree summer. As a youth I was
oblivious to the underlying significance of Labor Day in the
lives of ordinary working families. I didn’t realize the
perennial importance of Labor Day as a way to celebrate small
and large victories and gains that came to us through the
efforts of labor unions and the blood, sweat and tears of
earlier generations. Nor was I aware that Labor Day was a way to
stand in solidarity with new generations of women and men still
struggling for economic security, humane working conditions,
decent wages and benefits for themselves and for their families.
Since its formal inception in 1884, L