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By SCOTT CHAMBERS
At vacation hotspots and suburban barbecues across the country, this year’s Labor Day marks
the unofficial end of any hope whatsoever for an economic recovery. According to historians,
Labor Day used to serve as a mark of the end of summer and at one time was even used to
observe the labor achievements of workers, though few can remember a time in when there
were jobs available in which to conduct labor.
With unemployment holding at over 9% during the month of August , make-work projects from
government stimulus money coming to an end and businesses resolutely refusing to hire new
workers, this Labor Day serves as a depressing reminder for most Americans of the previous
eras in which labor was something to be celebrated. Now with the largest amount of idle labor
in America since the Great Depression, labor takes on a different meaning. Merely having
access to labor at all is the primary source of celebration for most Americans. Having labor in
this economy is in fact a daily celebration for most Americans who are lucky enough to have it
because it means that, if they are especially resourceful, they can manage to purchase enough
calories to support themselves and perhaps a small pet such as a goldfish or spider.
Said Jared Fitzwater of Baltimore, Maryland, who was busy digging up potatoes in his makeshift
garden in order to eat on the breezy Monday afternoon, Labor Day “no longer served as one
extra day off to enjoy the summer…I mean I’ve enjoyed every day of summer off…I’ve been
unemployed for three years.” When asked if he saw Labor Day as time to think about the
achievements of American workers, Fitzwater stated that “I think you first need a job in order
to labor in order achieve something, right?”
So few Americans are employed that many were begging to work on Labor Day. The long line at
the unemployment office in Trenton, New Jersey was particularly long because the office is
closed on Labor Day. Most of those in line who were interviewed were unaware that they office
was closed because the line is normally a four-day wait, so one wouldn't normally expect to see
the door on the same day you get in line anyway. Said Richard Clark, a metalworker who has
been unemployed for 19 months and who was getting comfortable in his sleeping bag in the
1700-yard long line, “I would give anything to labor on this Labor Day.”
At vacation hotspots and suburban barbecues across the country, this year’s Labor Day marks
the unofficial end of any hope whatsoever for an economic recovery. According to historians,
Labor Day used to serve as a mark of the end of summer and at one time was even used to
observe the labor achievements of workers, though few can remember a time in when there
were jobs available in which to conduct labor.
With unemployment holding at over 9% during the month of August , make-work projects from
government stimulus money coming to an end and businesses resolutely refusing to hire new
workers, this Labor Day serves as a depressing reminder for most Americans of the previous
eras in which labor was something to be celebrated. Now with the largest amount of idle labor
in America since the Great Depression, labor takes on a different meaning. Merely having
access to labor at all is the primary source of celebration for most Americans. Having labor in
this economy is in fact a daily celebration for most Americans who are lucky enough to have it
because it means that, if they are especially resourceful, they can manage to purchase enough
calories to support themselves and perhaps a small pet such as a goldfish or spider.
Said Jared Fitzwater of Baltimore, Maryland, who was busy digging up potatoes in his makeshift
garden in order to eat on the breezy Monday afternoon, Labor Day “no longer served as one
extra day off to enjoy the summer…I mean I’ve enjoyed every day of summer off…I’ve been
unemployed for three years.” When asked if he saw Labor Day as time to think about the
achievements of American workers, Fitzwater stated that “I think you first need a job in order
to labor in order achieve something, right?”
So few Americans are employed that many were begging to work on Labor Day. The long line at
the unemployment office in Trenton, New Jersey was particularly long because the office is
closed on Labor Day. Most of those in line who were interviewed were unaware that they office
was closed because the line is normally a four-day wait, so one wouldn't normally expect to see
the door on the same day you get in line anyway. Said Richard Clark, a metalworker who has
been unemployed for 19 months and who was getting comfortable in his sleeping bag in the
1700-yard long line, “I would give anything to labor on this Labor Day.”