What’s the Work (and Worker) Worth? Labor Day: Revist the Past, Improve the Future

By Shannon Terry — — Posted in Job Search Tips

What’s the Work (and Worker) Worth?

This Monday, we in the U.S. are celebrating the contributions of workers. That’s what Labor Day is all about! That’s why we have the extra day off work first Monday in September every year now.

 

What? It’s not (just) the “official end of summer” holiday?? Nope!

 

It began, and still is/should be, in recognition of the worth of the labor done by the workers – the ones that make things actually happen in any business. That’s probably all of us, eh?

 

OK, I know you basically knew all of that. But, it’s always good to remember. The issues that brought about this national holiday are entirely relevant to modern workplaces, the latest ‘layer’ or incarnation of these issues.

 

The shifts and changes we are seeing in workforce norms NOW are reminiscent of the past, and thus, your career and job search.

 

The saying goes “History doesn’t always repeat itself, but it rhymes.”

 

Let’s look a little bit about how relevant the Labor Day history is to our current times (history in the making).

 

Labor Issues:  History

Let’s remember just how valuable the work YOU do is to your employer – and why that matters to them, and, to you.

 

The Labor Movement throughout history can be thanked not just for our extra day off this weekend, the official unoffical “end of summer”, since 1894, but, also for workplace norms and right we may take for granted:

Thanks to the Labor Movement through history, we have:

  • a 40 hour work week (I know, in theory anyway),
  • a minimum wage (still not enough but better than before there was one),
  • the end of many unsafe and exploitative conditions on the job (think child labor and sweat shops)
  • and many other workplace protections and rights.

Read more about the history of the Labor movement in this PBS article.

I think that’s worth reflecting on, and appreciating, at least once a year (how about the first Monday of September?)

The PBS article says, “Labor unions pressed and activists sacrificed to gain recognition of both the contributions and the mistreatment of workers at the time. ”

 

  • What’s a day work, the worker’s time and energy, worth?
  • What is fair, and right, to expect (and, not accept) in a ‘good days’s work’?
  • What VALUE do workers bring to the success of the company, and, as an asset to that company, how should they be recognized, compensated, and protected?

 

Relevant questions then, relevant now.

Modern times:

Nowadays, we are still fighting for improvements to working conditions and norms, with a recent uptick in interest in similar issues of workers rights, needs, and what kinds of environments and workplace norms make for appreciated, productive employees AND strong outcomes and financial profits.

Examples:

  • Better (longer) paid leaves (vacation time, parental leave, family care leave, sick/mental health days)
  • Flexible schedules and/or work-from-home options
  • DEI initiatives (diversity, equity, inclusion) for better workplaces for all
  • Legal protections for LBGTQ+ employees and other often targeted, discriminated grouups
  • Whistle-blower protections
  • The right to unionize
  • and many more

Circles and Cycles: Revisiting the Past, Improving the Future

Whether it’s worker rights and protections or anything else throughout our society’s development, or our personal lives, too, life has this way of making progress, learning something, living with that new reality for awhile, then, circling back around to the issue.

We revisit past experiences and choices, maybe diving into it deeper, reassessing former changes and how well they worked or didn’t, and how we can therefore further improve upon it.

As I said above, “History doesn’t usually repeat, but it rhymes”. What does it sound and look like THIS time ’round?

This also sounds like what we do with business processes and systems, too, eh? Constantly looking to improve efficiency and ‘best practices’!

The cycles and patterns of life extrapolate out from the “micro” to the “macro” systems of our world and the human experience.

This is something I actually find fascinating – looking for those truths and patterns and how the apply, how they manifest, play out, in various arenas.

Business “Best Practices” and Sustainability

We identify the issues to improve, then, multiple solutions, approaches, emerge, whether it’s a better way to eat healthier in our own lives, or, a better way to onboard new employees. What’s the best way, all things considered?

In more recent years, one solution to the ‘best’ way to do business, you may recall me mentioning previously, is the concept, inception, and growth of a whole new business model, based on solely on “the fiscal “bottom line” (aka delivering highest profits to company shareholders) but instead, incorporating businesses to include MULTIPLE priorities – for example, the “3 P’s” – people, planet, AND profits.

You can read some introductory information in articles on my website in the “Sustainable Business” section. These company’s believe in the “triple bottom line” (3 P’s), which includes their workers as one of, if not their most important, asset.

Know the Value of the Work YOU Do

As the quote says above, in paraphrase, without the employees to implement great ideas, there IS no business at all.

What YOU do matters. Without you, the employees, any business goes OUT of business. Remember that.

I talk about this often. Here’s a few examples you can review:

 

So enjoy your Labor Day time off, while remembering the value your Labor movement predecessors saw, and ensured for you, and, your own work’s worth.  And always do your part to further ensure and improve the workplace for you, your children, and future workers as well.