Labor Day!

The holiday began in 1882, originating from a desire by the Central Labor Union to create a day off for the "working man". It is still celebrated mainly as a day of rest and marks the symbolic end of summer for many. Labor Day became a federal holiday by Act of Congress in 1894.

There Is Power In A Union

by Billy Bragg

There is power in a factory, power in the land

Power in the hand of the worker

But it all amounts to nothing if together we don't stand

There is power in a Union

Now the lessons of the past were all learned with workers blood

The mistakes of the bosses we must pay for

From the cities and the farmlands to trenches full of mud

War has always been the bosses way, sir

The Union forever,defending our rights

Down with the blackleg,all workers unite

With our brothers and our sisters from many far-off lands

There is power in a Union

Now I long for the morning that they realise

Brutality and unjust laws cannot defeat us

But who'll defend the workers who cannot organise

When the bosses send their lackeys out to cheat us?

Money speaks for money,the Devil for his own

Who comes to speak for the skin and the bone?

What a comfort for the widow,a light to the child

There is power in a Union

The Union forever,defending our rights

Down with the blackleg,all workers unite

With our brothers and our sisters together we will stand

There is power in a Union