Independently Speaking By Brent Olson

Independently Speaking By Brent Olson

Labor

I’m writing this on Sunday. My usual writing day is Monday, but this Monday is Labor Day and, sadly, I need to labor on Labor Day.

I have a floor I need to level out before I can put some tile down, and the high temp on Wednesday is supposed to be 61, the cement is supposed to cure at a warmer temperature than that and — you don’t care, but just so you know — like a lot of other people, I’m laboring on Labor Day.

Labor Day is one of those holidays I don’t really understand.

I mean, I get the concept. In the late 1800s, rich people were running the country, even more extremely than usual, and President Grover Cleveland declared a national holiday in honor of the people who do the work of the world. Of course, this was just after he sent federal troops to break up a railroad strike, in the process killing about 40 of the strikers.

I’m not sure the declaration made anyone feel better, but at least it was a gesture.

I’ve never belonged to a union and haven’t really applied for a job in a few decades. As a county commissioner, I spent 20 years negotiating with unions, and I never felt like I had a problem with them. It could get frustrating dealing with the minutia of contracts, and salary negotiations were never fun, but the truth is that in this world, management has a lot of power, and you simply can’t rely on it using that power fairly without some counterweight on the other side.

That’s just the truth, and you can go back as far as the Pharaohs letting the contracts for the pyramids and see what happens when workers don’t have any power.

Time flies, and it’s easy to forget how we got to where we are. When my great-grandfather was alive, it was common for a working man to work seven days a week, 12 hours each day. No minimum wage existed, and “work until I die” wasn’t a cynic’s approach to retirement planning, it was what almost everyone did. All of those changes were hard to come by, and people died, literally, so those who work for a living could also have a decent life.

No, I don’t have a problem with celebrating Labor Day. I just feel sad that so many people have to labor, and it seems to me that most of the people working are the ones without any power.

I understand that gas stations need to stay open, and someone needs to draw the short straw to run the till. I’m certainly grateful to the folks that keep hospitals and emergency rooms functioning. Law enforcement, snowplow drivers — the list of people we need working to keep civilization functioning is pretty long. But do we really need quite so many Labor Day sales? The average wage for a clerk in a retail store is around $15.00/hour, but the range is from $8.41 to $22.00. It seems to me that those workers deserve a long weekend and some burgers on the grill, too.

I admit I’m kind of a grump about how we seem to turn every holiday into a shopping opportunity. But seriously, making the lowest paid workers in our society work on Labor Day? What’s up with that?

I may be laboring on Labor Day, but I’m not punching a time clock to do it, and that makes all the difference.

Copyright 2025 Brent Olson