Editorial: Celebrating jobs on Labor Day

Labor Day. You know what it is. It’s a lazy day. A picnic day. The line in the sand beyond which no white shoes used to pass.

The first Monday in September is a day off for most. Since 1894, the federal government has set it aside as a day when we honor workers for the jobs they do.

This year seems different, though.

While we have had periods before when we dealt with economic downturns and unemployment, has there ever been a time that more illustrated the importance of work?

The coronavirus pandemic sent millions of workers home. That put businesses at risk. It put the economy in peril. It made every level of government stutter over budgets.

At the same time, other jobs were critical. Grocery stores couldn’t close down. Neither could the farms or factories that produced food. We still needed to buy gas and take the bus. We needed our hospitals and doctors and nurses, police and mail carriers and truck drivers.

It changed how others did their jobs. They worked from home. They took gig jobs. They converted one business into another. They adapted and accommodated and just kept plowing through.

And that says everything about why we celebrate Labor Day.

Our jobs do more than just provide paychecks. Performing work gives us a sense of self and a sense of purpose. It lets us accomplish goals and reach for new skills. Having a job you love can give you a reason to get up. Wanting a job you love can give you a reason to climb higher.

The drive for fulfilling work motivates our education. It pushes some people toward military service. It prompts entrepreneurship and invention.

Jobs build our infrastructure. They shape our communities. As an industry can a define city, so can the jobs that fuel it. Southwestern Pennsylvania was built not only by mining and steel but by miners and steelworkers.

This Labor Day, let’s not celebrate just work, but the desire to work. Let’s applaud the things work makes us feel and the way it lifts us up.

And let us hope that next Labor Day sees more people back on the job.