Salute to the American worker

Like so many holidays, Labor Day is losing its significance. For many, it’s the unofficial end of summer, one last long weekend at the shore or the mountains.

 

Few communities do much to observe Labor Day. There are occasional parades and ceremonies by unions, but for the most part, few people take the time to think about what Labor Day means and why we celebrate it.

This is especially true this year when 23 million Americans are out of work, under-employed or have given up looking for work.

The first observance of Labor Day is believed to have been a parade of 10,000 workers on Sept. 5, 1882, in New York City, organized by Peter J. McGuire, a Carpenters and Joiners Union secretary.

By 1893, more than half the states were observing a “Labor Day” on one day or another, and a bill to establish a federal holiday was passed by Congress in 1894. President Grover Cleveland signed the bill soon afterward designating the first Monday in September as Labor Day.

Who are we celebrating? Here are some statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau website on America’s work force:

There are 155.2 million people who work for a living out of a total U.S. population of 311.5 million.

The working population consists of 82.6 million men and 72.6 million women above the age of 16.

Real median earnings for a full-time male worker is $47,715 compared to $35,931 for a female worker, according to the most recent Census data.

About 85 percent of workers ages 18 to 64 are currently covered by health insurance.

About 78 percent of workers in private industry receive paid vacation as one of their employment benefits. In addition, 77 percent of workers receive paid holidays, 15 percent have access to employer assisted child care and 12 percent have access to long-term care insurance.

The number of workers who hold down more than one job is 7.6 million. These so-called “moonlighters” make up just 5 percent of the working population. Of those moonlighters, 4 million work full time at their primary job and part time at their other job. About 284,000 workers work two full-time jobs. When do they sleep?

The number of self-employed workers in the U.S. is 10.1 million. The number of people who work from home is 5.9 million.

What percentage of workers age 16 and older work more than 40 hours? The answer is 27 percent. Seven percent of workers reported working 60 or more hours per week.

Americans are changing employers more than ever, spending an average of 4.1 years at each job. Just 10 percent of those employed have been with their current employer for 20 or more years.

About 5 percent of workers say they work the evening shift (any time between 2 p.m. and midnight) and another 3 percent work the night shift (any time between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m.).

Just 14.8 million American workers are members of labor unions down from 16 million just two short years ago.

The most popular job in the U.S. remains teaching. About 7 million Americans are teachers, 3 million of them teaching in preschool through grade 12. Registered nurses (2.1 million) and custodians/cleaners (1.4 million) are a distant second and third on the list.

Most workers (77 percent) drive alone to work each day. The amount of time the average American spends commuting to work each year? More than 100 hours, which exceeds the typical two weeks vacation time taken by U.S. workers over the course of a year.

So enjoy some time off on this Labor Day. You’ve earned it.