# What do conservatives celebrate on Labor Day? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 5, 2016, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-conservatives-celebrate-on-labor-day/765107 "2016-09-05T17:09:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-conservatives-celebrate-on-labor-day/765107/21 "2016-09-06T01:01:19Z")
Once conservatives succeed in forcing us all to say “Merry Christmas” again, they’ll turn their attention to enforcing orthodoxy in other holiday observances. Labor Day might not be the next one they tackle. Maybe they’ll get to it after Flag Day. Or Armed Forces Day. Or Secretaries Day. But they’ll get to it, believe you me! ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-conservatives-celebrate-on-labor-day/765107/22 "2016-09-06T01:33:06Z")
We celebrate the union bosses dining on filet and aged chianti, paid for by the obligatory dues on their well-served members. Oh wait, we’re not living in the bilateral world of good vs. evil? ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-conservatives-celebrate-on-labor-day/765107/23 "2016-09-06T02:06:46Z")
Well, we should not forget why is that we got Labor Day off: > **[Why Do We Get Labor Day Off? You Can Thank Chicago Workers](https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20150905/pullman/why-do-we-get-labor-day-off-you-can-thank-chicago-workers/)** > > The 1894 Pullman Strike led to Labor Day. Here are five of the city's biggest moments in labor history. > [@](#): > > Pullman Strike > > Almost 4,000 Pullman Company workers striked in 1894 after their wages were cut but rent for company housing remained the same. > > The strike led to railway issues throughout the country as workers refused to use Pullman cars on trains, damaged tracks and attacked workers who had replaced them at work. Eventually, more than 100,000 workers across the United States walked off their jobs. > > Federal courts and troops were used to stop the strike, and union leader Eugene Debs faced federal charges (though most were later dropped and he was sentenced to six months). > > Labor Day was was designated a federal holiday shortly after the Pullman Strike ended in 1894 as a way to appease labor activists. In essence what unions succeeded (but much later) then was to end a feudalistic system that was still going on the USA. > **[The Origins of Labor Day](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/business-july-dec01-labor_day_9-2)** > > The observance of Labor Day began over 100 years ago. > [@](#): > > The town was strictly, almost feudally, organized: row houses for the assembly and craft workers; modest Victorians for the managers; and a luxurious hotel where Pullman himself lived and where visiting customers, suppliers, and salesman would lodge while in town. > > Its residents all worked for the Pullman company, their paychecks drawn from Pullman bank, and their rent, set by Pullman, deducted automatically from their weekly paychecks. The town, and the company, operated smoothly and successfully for more than a decade. > > But in 1893, the Pullman company was caught in the nationwide economic depression. Orders for railroad sleeping cars declined, and George Pullman was forced to lay off hundreds of employees. Those who remained endured wage cuts, even while rents in Pullman remained consistent. Take-home paychecks plummeted. > > And so the employees walked out, demanding lower rents and higher pay. The American Railway Union, led by a young Eugene V. Debs, came to the cause of the striking workers, and railroad workers across the nation boycotted trains carrying Pullman cars. Rioting, pillaging, and burning of railroad cars soon ensued; mobs of non-union workers joined in. > > The strike instantly became a national issue. President Grover Cleveland, faced with nervous railroad executives and interrupted mail trains, declared the strike a federal crime and deployed 12,000 troops to break the strike. Violence erupted, and two men were killed when U.S. deputy marshals fired on protesters in Kensington, near Chicago, but the strike was doomed. > > On August 3, 1894, the strike was declared over. Debs went to prison, his ARU was disbanded, and Pullman employees henceforth signed a pledge that they would never again unionize. Aside from the already existing American Federation of Labor and the various railroad brotherhoods, industrial workers’ unions were effectively stamped out and remained so until the Great Depression. > > It was not the last time Debs would find himself behind bars, either. Campaigning from his jail cell, Debs would later win almost a million votes for the Socialist ticket in the 1920 presidential race. > > In an attempt to appease the nation’s workers, Labor Day is born Keep that in mind after you are digesting your Labor Day BBQ… ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-conservatives-celebrate-on-labor-day/765107/24 "2016-09-06T02:37:40Z")
And one should point here also about what Trump amd many conservatives are looking forward to do if Trump becomes president regarding the workers of America: > **[Trump Trade Position Is Opposite Of What People Think It Is](https://crooksandliars.com/2016/08/trump-trade-position-opposite-what-people)** > > The Republican presidential candidate says we need to cut American wages enough to be "competitive" with China and Mexico. He has even laid out a plan to accomplish this. He may have stopped saying that, but ... > [@](#): > > One of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s stronger economic appeals to working-class voters is his position on trade. Trump understands that people are upset that “trade” deals have moved so many jobs out of the country and he offers solutions that sound like he is saying he will bring the jobs back so wages can start going up again. > > But a deeper look at what he is really saying might not be so appealing to voters. > > Trump says the U.S. is not “competitive” with other countries. He has said repeatedly we need to lower American wages, taxes and regulations to the point where we can be “competitive” with Mexico and China. In other words, he is saying that business won’t send jobs out of the country if we can make wages low enough here. > > Trump even has a plan to accomplish this. He has said the way to make U.S. wages “competitive” is to pit states against each other instead of using China and Mexico to do that. He has said, for example, that auto companies should close factories in Michigan and move the jobs to low-wage, anti-union states. After enough people are laid off in one state, he has said, “those guys are going to want their jobs back even if it is less.” Then companies will be able to “make good deals” to cut wages. He says that companies should continue this in a “rotation” of wage cuts, state to state, until you go “full-circle,” getting wages low enough across the entire country. Then the U.S. will be “competitive” with China and Mexico. > > Yes, Trump Actually Said These Things > > Trump discussed this in an August 2015 interview with The Detroit News headlined, “Trump suggests moving some car production from Michigan.“ In the interview, the subject of moving jobs out of the country because other places offer lower wages, “free or nearly free land on which to build, and fewer regulatory hurdles” came up. “Trump suggested one way to stop automakers’ expansion to Mexico is by moving some production out of Michigan to lower-wage states.” ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-conservatives-celebrate-on-labor-day/765107/25 "2016-09-06T04:01:13Z")
I don’t think that crooksandliars site really gives a balanced perspective on Trump’s position, so for those that are interested in some balance, are least the source without all the spin, here’s the article on the interview Trump did: [Trump suggests moving some car production from Michigan](http://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/2015/08/12/trump-autos/31589899/) ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-conservatives-celebrate-on-labor-day/765107/26 "2016-09-06T04:14:34Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I don’t think that crooksandliars site really gives a balanced perspective on Trump’s position, so for those that are interested in some balance, are least the source without all the spin, here’s the article on the interview Trump did: [Trump suggests moving some car production from Michigan](http://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/2015/08/12/trump-autos/31589899/) The news there does point to the other item where Trump will make more harm than good. The tariffs he mentioned that he will impose are more likely to genearate a trade war that can get us into a recesition or a big slowdown. Less jobs then will be the result. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/03/25/donald-trumps-trade-war-could-kill-millions-of-u-s-jobs/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/03/25/donald-trumps-trade-war-could-kill-millions-of-u-s-jobs/) > [@](#): > > An economic model of Trump’s proposals, prepared by Moody’s Analytics at the request of The Washington Post, suggests Trump is half-right about his plans. They would, in fact, sock it to China and Mexico. Both would fall into recession, the model suggests, if Trump levied his proposed tariffs and those countries retaliated with tariffs of their own. > > Unfortunately, the United States would fall into recession, too. Up to 4 million American workers would lose their jobs. Another 3 million jobs would not be created that otherwise would have been, had the country not fallen into a trade-induced downturn. > > The job losses would be halved if China and Mexico chose not to retaliate to the tariffs of 45 percent and 35 percent, respectively. In which case U.S. growth would flatline, but the country would not fall into recession. > > The amount of predicted economic damage surprised Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics, who prepared the model. He said it is magnified by the precarious – and historically unusual – state of the U.S. and global economies right now: Under the Moody’s model, the Federal Reserve has little power to slow the recession, because interest rates remain near zero. Congress refuses to enact any stimulus measures, such as spending increases or tax cuts, that might increase the federal budget deficit further. > > What results, in the model, is a downward spiral of reduced economic activity. Prices rise on imported goods from China and Mexico, which has the effect of reducing spending power for American consumers. If China and Mexico retaliate, U.S. exports fall, forcing layoffs at American companies that sell to those foreign customers. The ensuing growth slowdowns spread to other trading partners, particularly in Europe, and cause stock markets to plunge, which in turn slows growth even more. > > Within a year, the model predicts, the U.S. economy is in recession. “This is a pretty ugly scenario," Zandi said, "one that I think any rational person would want to avoid.” ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-conservatives-celebrate-on-labor-day/765107/27 "2016-09-06T04:24:24Z")
Is Labor Day something one normally “celebrates”? I’m not a conservative but I didn’t know I was supposed to celebrate anything. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-conservatives-celebrate-on-labor-day/765107/28 "2016-09-06T04:41:12Z")
IMHO a lot of powerful interests in the USA do want it that way. That we forget about the reasons why we have a labor day in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-conservatives-celebrate-on-labor-day/765107/29 "2016-09-06T16:26:25Z")
I have never in my entire life met an actual human being who celebrated organized labor on Labor Day, including people who are actually in unions. The nature of organized labour, unionization, and workplace conditions today is so dramatically different from what was going on in 1900 that it is almost linguistically inaccurate to use the same terms. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-conservatives-celebrate-on-labor-day/765107/30 "2016-09-06T16:57:44Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Well, we should not forget why is that we got Labor Day off: > > [Why Do We Get Labor Day Off? You Can Thank Chicago Workers - Pullman - Chicago - DNAinfo](https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20150905/pullman/why-do-we-get-labor-day-off-you-can-thank-chicago-workers) > In essence what unions succeeded (but much later) then was to end a feudalistic system that was still going on the USA. > > [The Origins of Labor Day | PBS News](http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/business-july-dec01-labor_day_9-2/) > Keep that in mind after you are digesting your Labor Day BBQ… Mob scares the shit out of elite politicians, so they give them a day off. Think of the poetry. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-conservatives-celebrate-on-labor-day/765107/31 "2016-09-06T17:10:21Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I have never in my entire life met an actual human being who celebrated organized labor on Labor Day, including people who are actually in unions. I’m guessing _you_ weren’t raised by Marxists :D. More seriously I do know some union activists that celebrate ( or at least pay lip service ) to union labor on Labor Day. But yeah for most Americans it is traditionally just “BBQ Day”, maybe mixed in with “Last Day of Summer Day” for those whose kids return to school after it. Though I guess Labor Day as the mark of the beginning of the school year is less ubiquitous than it once was. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-conservatives-celebrate-on-labor-day/765107/32 "2016-09-06T17:13:40Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > I’m guessing _you_ weren’t raised by Marxists :D. > > More seriously I do know some union activists that celebrate ( or at least pay lip service ) to union labor on Labor Day. But yeah for most Americans it is traditionally just “BBQ Day”, maybe mixed in with “Last Day of Summer Day” for those whose kids return to school after it. Though I guess Labor Day as the mark of the beginning of the school year is less ubiquitous than it once was. Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. And maybe Independence Day. The rest are just days off. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-conservatives-celebrate-on-labor-day/765107/33 "2016-09-06T17:22:11Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I have never in my entire life met an actual human being who celebrated organized labor on Labor Day, including people who are actually in unions. When I lived in Alaska, a local union sponsored the Labor Day parade, and donated free hot dogs and hamburgers in the park at the end of the parade. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-conservatives-celebrate-on-labor-day/765107/34 "2016-09-06T18:41:11Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I have never in my entire life met an actual human being who celebrated organized labor on Labor Day, including people who are actually in unions. > > The nature of organized labour, unionization, and workplace conditions today is so dramatically different from what was going on in 1900 that it is almost linguistically inaccurate to use the same terms. The only blue collar workers I have ever met that had labor day off as a holiday were union employees. Not that they made a giant spectacle of it or anything, but they certainly celebrated by taking the day off. Blue collar employees not in unions don’t usually get that day off. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-conservatives-celebrate-on-labor-day/765107/35 "2016-09-06T18:45:22Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > The only blue collar workers I have ever met that had labor day off as a holiday were union employees. Not that they made a giant spectacle of it or anything, but they certainly celebrated by taking the day off. > > Blue collar employees not in unions don’t usually get that day off. Do you have a cite for that? I find it hard to believe. Every company I’ve every worked for gave everyone that day off. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-conservatives-celebrate-on-labor-day/765107/36 "2016-09-06T18:56:32Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Do you have a cite for that? I find it hard to believe. Every company I’ve every worked for gave everyone that day off. I’ve worked mostly in restaurants. Do you want me to list the hours of every restaurant within 100 miles? I would be surprised if any of them, much less a significant fraction of them, are closed for LD. Just a quick cite for ya. [Here’s Applebees](http://holidayshoppinghours.com/2016-holiday-restaurant-hours/applebees-open-closed-hours/), [O’Charley’s](http://holidayshoppinghours.com/2016-holiday-restaurant-hours/ocharleys-open-closed-hours/), [Fridays…](http://holidayshoppinghours.com/2016-holiday-restaurant-hours/t-g-i-fridays-open-closed-hours/), I could go on… When I worked retail… yeah, I really hope you don’t think that retail gets labor day off. When I worked for the cable company, we also were not closed for labor day, though I think that that was one of the days we got holiday premium pay, there were only 5 of those days a year though, so I am not sure. The only place I’ve worked that I got the day off was when I was doing corporate catering, and that’s because we had no clients on that day, as they were all closed. The irony here, is that white collar workers are the ones who most universally get LD off, and blue collars (the labor) are the ones who don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-conservatives-celebrate-on-labor-day/765107/37 "2016-09-06T20:55:16Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > I’ve worked mostly in restaurants. Do you want me to list the hours of every restaurant within 100 miles? I would be surprised if any of them, much less a significant fraction of them, are closed for LD. > > Just a quick cite for ya. [Here’s Applebees](http://holidayshoppinghours.com/2016-holiday-restaurant-hours/applebees-open-closed-hours/), [O’Charley’s](http://holidayshoppinghours.com/2016-holiday-restaurant-hours/ocharleys-open-closed-hours/), [Fridays…](http://holidayshoppinghours.com/2016-holiday-restaurant-hours/t-g-i-fridays-open-closed-hours/), I could go on… > > When I worked retail… yeah, I really hope you don’t think that retail gets labor day off. > > When I worked for the cable company, we also were not closed for labor day, though I think that that was one of the days we got holiday premium pay, there were only 5 of those days a year though, so I am not sure. > > The only place I’ve worked that I got the day off was when I was doing corporate catering, and that’s because we had no clients on that day, as they were all closed. > > The irony here, is that white collar workers are the ones who most universally get LD off, and blue collars (the labor) are the ones who don’t. Military - reduced duty day (if you had pissed somebody off, you had guard duty though). Construction - I didn’t work Labor Day University - closed Corporate - closed (though I am still doing work, and sometimes travelling). Government - closed is the rule, exceptions below. Jobs that are screwed for the holidays: Park Service (gotta BBQ someplace, and even Yosemite is open on Christmas) Cops, Firefighters, Nurses, Doctors and other Hospital employees Grocers - still selling me supplies on Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. Retail (Black Friday starts at midnight of Thanksgiving) Restaurants - for when I burn the turkey ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-conservatives-celebrate-on-labor-day/765107/38 "2016-09-06T21:04:45Z")
> [@Algher](#): > > Military - reduced duty day (if you had pissed somebody off, you had guard duty though). > Construction - I didn’t work Labor Day > University - closed > Corporate - closed (though I am still doing work, and sometimes travelling). > Government - closed is the rule, exceptions below. > > Jobs that are screwed for the holidays: > Park Service (gotta BBQ someplace, and even Yosemite is open on Christmas) > Cops, Firefighters, Nurses, Doctors and other Hospital employees > Grocers - still selling me supplies on Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. > Retail (Black Friday starts at midnight of Thanksgiving) > Restaurants - for when I burn the turkey Oh yeah, I know there are plenty of people who are closed. I was responding to John Mace’s claim that he had never heard of anyone being open on labor day. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-conservatives-celebrate-on-labor-day/765107/39 "2016-09-06T21:13:51Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Oh yeah, I know there are plenty of people who are closed. I was responding to John Mace’s claim that he had never heard of anyone being open on labor day. Sure - but you stated that blue collar doesn’t get the day off. Factories & construction are going to be closed on Labor Day - and those are a ton of blue collar jobs. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-conservatives-celebrate-on-labor-day/765107/40 "2016-09-06T21:25:43Z")
I know lots of blue collar laborers that are conservative, that are anti-union, that work shift work, punch a time clock, etc. etc. OP go back and read your definition of Labor Day, it has nothing to do with unions. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-conservatives-celebrate-on-labor-day/765107.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-conservatives-celebrate-on-labor-day/765107.md?page=3)