Commentary: There is a reason behind the Labor Day holiday

This weekend is the traditional end of summer - the long weekend preceding Labor Day, a traditional national holiday in America.

Many have forgotten the meaning of the holiday. When Labor Day comes around, we are often more worried about getting an early start to beat the Minnesota traffic, getting everything we need ready for the last big camping weekend or booking our favorite vacation spot for the family.

Labor Day is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers, always held on the first Monday in September. It reflects a yearly tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity and well-being of our country.

The first labor holidays were recognized in 1885 and 1886 by municipal ordinances. The first state bill to be passed was by Oregon on Feb. 21, 1887. By the end of the year, four more states - Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York - had created Labor Day holidays. By 1894, 23 more states had adopted the holiday and President Grover Cleveland and Congress declared the first national Labor Day later that year.

Labor Day is a memorable day for me for many reasons.

First, I grew up in a labor-oriented family, both my father and brother were iron workers in the 1960s and 1970s. Both my grandfathers worked in road construction and maintenance during their lifetimes. And many of my first cousins have made careers in road construction/maintenance, city pipe construction and carpentry and other trades.

Second, I learned one night to appreciate the sacrifice many construction workers make for their families. When I was in early elementary school, the local creamery closed and business in my father’s garage declined significantly. He had worked as a farmer and a mechanic in the 1940s to the mid-1960s. Then he went up to northeast Minnesota to work as an iron worker in constructing buildings and bridges. Early every Monday morning he would drive to whatever city his construction site located. He would arrange lodging and a place to eat in whatever town he was in. After work Friday, he would drive home to our central Minnesota home and spend time with family.

Just before I was going away to college, I sought him out on one Friday night to talk. My sister had gotten married earlier that summer and I was headed off to college. So I was worried about my mother being home alone all week. So I talked to my father about my concern. Then he asked me “what do you think I face each week away from home.” I had never thought about  that sacrifice. I’d just grown up thinking dads went away to work during the week. He had a point that I would never forget.

Third, labor work can be a dangerous business. In fact, it can be downright deadly. Both my father and my older brother began working as iron workers in the early 1960s. They helped build bridges, buildings, sugar beet plants, television towers and more. They each fell on the job once during that decade; both were injured, recovered and went back to work to provide for their families.

However, the 1970s did not go so well. A family friend, who helped my brother and father to become iron workers, lost his life in 1974 in a work-related accident in Winnipeg, Canada. A year later, my father was burned in a gas leak fire in the trailer he was renting in Chisholm and died. Then three years later, my brother fell to his death while welding on a building site at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. Then in the early 1980s, a cousin’s husband had a pipe trench cave-in that took his life.

Those are tragedies that one never forgets. They are of the risk faced by many labor workers in whatever sectors they work in. Two construction workers were killed after a scaffolding collapse earlier this week on a hotel near Disney World in Florida.

So during this Labor Day weekend, remember the labor workers across the country. Drive careful on your trip on the road they built.  Know that road construction and law enforcement workers will be working this weekend to keep you save. And appreciate the service from the order taker at the fast food restaurant to the bartender serving you Saturday night.

So drive safe, be patient and get home safe this weekend.