Labor Activists Continue to Advocate for Workers’ Rights

Labor Day may be a three-day weekend for many Americans and is frequently connected to sales, family barbecues, and the unofficial end of summer, but the holiday has much deeper significance.

The holiday was first observed clandestinely by labor activists in the late 1800s after they demanded better working conditions, including the implementation of an eight-hour workday. However, Congress did not declare Labor Day a legal holiday until 1984.

Susie Martinez, executive secretary-treasurer of the Nevada AFL, said: “Your family is protected by many laws that passed. “The 40-hour work week, you get overtime, we now have social security, there are the worker protections.”

All the advantages people enjoy today are a direct result of those who fought for workers’ rights in the past.

According to Michelle Maese, president of the local SEIU chapter, “Those holidays off, those break times, those celebrations are because men and women have fought for those rights that we have to be able to celebrate this day,”

The struggle for workers’ rights is still going strong, according to labor activists.

Credits: 8NewsNow