The Promise of Labor Day: Dignity, Fairness, Solidarity

A message from Executive Secretary Brian Pearson:

This year, as we gather for parades and cookouts, it’s important to remember what Labor Day really means—and why it still matters.

Labor Day is more than the unofficial end of summer. It is rooted in struggle, sacrifice, and solidarity. It honors generations of working people who fought for rights too often taken for granted today: the 40-hour work week, overtime pay, workplace safety standards, child labor laws, and more. None of these victories were gifts—they were won because workers stood together, organized, and demanded dignity and fairness. The labor movement has always been about more than paychecks; it has been about building a fairer, more just society for everyone.

Research shows that 60 million American workers would join a union today if they could. Yet powerful anti-union forces have rigged the system to block their will. Employers mount aggressive opposition campaigns while labor laws remain too weak to truly protect the right to organize. Decades of attacks at the federal and state levels have made it harder for workers to form unions and bargain first contracts. These legal loopholes let employers stall, intimidate, and retaliate—tilting the scales even further against working people.

Public opinion is on our side. Year after year, polls show Americans’ support for unions climbing to record highs, while confidence in big business sinks to record lows. Today, the gap between how people view unions versus corporations is more than three times larger than at any point since the 1960s. This long-term trend makes one thing clear: people increasingly see unions as the best vehicle for fairness and economic justice.

Here in Greater Cleveland, the North Shore AFL-CIO Federation of Labor is the organized voice of 80,000 union members from nearly 150 local unions. For 138 years, we have been a hub for building worker power. To take on these challenges locally, we are training new organizers and launching campaigns that bring more workers into unions, and advocating across party lines for policies that lift up working families. We also educate local candidates to understand the issues that matter most to workers, ensuring that elected leaders know whose side they should be on. And we call balls and strikes—making it clear to our members which leaders stand with working people and which do not. Our mission is simple: to ensure that every worker in our community has a fair shot at dignity, respect, and a voice on the job.

Strong unions benefit the whole community. When workers have a real voice, workplaces are safer, wages are higher, and families have stability. When unions thrive, local economies thrive. Communities grow stronger because workers are empowered to fight not just for themselves but for public investments, schools, infrastructure, and health care that everyone depends on. Labor Day reminds us that worker power is community power.

Yet in Washington and Columbus, too many politicians put corporate interests ahead of the people who keep this country running. We see efforts to weaken unions, roll back protections, and strip away collective bargaining rights. Budgets cut investments in working families while handing out tax breaks to the wealthy. These policies send a dangerous message to employers locally—that they can get away with disrespecting workers, cutting corners, and ignoring the laws meant to protect them.

This Labor Day, let’s honor the struggles of the past, celebrate the victories we’ve won, and recommit ourselves to the work that still lies ahead. Let’s stand together—union and non-union, public and private sector, young and old—to demand the respect, fairness, and opportunity every worker deserves. Because when working people rise, our entire community rises with us.