136 years after the Day of the Job In the United States, also known as Labor Dayto honor the workers, the workforce continues to fight for their labor rights, which establish security, protection, and decent wage benefits.
Less than a month to commemorate another worker’s day, scheduled for Monday, September 4, they continue in inhumane conditions that put their lives at risk, without a safe workplace, health protection, or contractual benefits. Despite the guarantees offered by US law.
The report of the international confederation, Oxfam, published in June, in which the labor laws of 38 developed countries were analyzed, reveals that the United States ranks 36th in salary policies, 38th in worker protection and 32nd in rights syndication.
job insecurity
Kurt A. Petermeyer, coordinator of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), of the US Department of Labor, points out in an opinion article that many American workers do not have job security, “thousands of people suffer fatal injuries on the job every year and many more are injured in incidents.” He indicating, in turn, that these could be avoided, establishing greater security and following federal regulations in the workplace.
“On jobsites across the country, workers in trades like construction work in conditions that put them at risk of serious injury, and are exposed to fatal falls; health workers are threatened by patients; and seasonal farmworkers face threats and unsafe living conditions in exchange for hours of hard work tending crops under the sun,” says Petermeyer.
Labor rights
The OSHA Law protects the safety and health of employers and workers in the public-private sector, in 50 states of the country.
OSHA’s regional coordinator also points out that the US Department of Labor is the body in charge of ensuring the rights of workers, promoting and developing labor well-being, and improving their conditions and benefits.
The United States, through its law, establishes that workers have the right to a healthy and safe workplace, to be warned about workplace hazards or unsanitary conditions, and to have access to medical records and workplace surveillance.
child labor
On the other hand, Kurt A. Petermeyer indicates that almost 100 years after federal protections against child labor became law, this is becoming one of the most frequent problems in the North American country.
Although federal regulations indicate that young people between the ages of 14 and 15 can work a maximum of 3 hours a day during the school period, 16-year-old adolescents could be hired today, at half the price of an adult, in high-risk activities such as demolitions, slaughterhouses or in bars, which would go against the existing federal protection laws.
Some 4,000 children were discovered working illegally in the United States in 2022, the highest number recorded since 2013, when federal inspectors found 1,400 minors in the same situation.
The US Department of Labor reported that the number of working children in the United States increased by 37% between 2015 and 2022. In the past two years, 14 states have introduced or enacted laws reversing regulations governing employment. number of hours children can work.
Origin
In most countries of the world, International Worker’s Day is celebrated on May 1, commemorating the start of a strike by American workers, demanding respect for the eight-hour day, however, in the US It is celebrated on the first Monday of September. This year it will be the fourth day of that month. But, what is the reason to commemorate him on that date?
Labor Day in the United States originates from a parade held in New York on September 5, 1882, organized by the Noble Order of the Knights of Labor, inspired by an event that was held annually in Toronto, Canada, according to a note of Trade.
According to the Department of Labor, the idea was proposed by Peter McGuire of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Cabinetmakers Union or by Matthew Maguire of the International Association of Machinists. The New York Central Labor Union appointed a committee to organize the parade to honor the workers.
workers fight
Rooted in their economic and political ideals, American workers promoted movements that led to the creation of the Wage and Hour Division of the US Department of Labor and its Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The American Federation of Labor called its first congress in 1886, a general strike in Chicago on May 1, to demand an eight-hour workday, which is now known as the Haymarket riot.
But it wasn’t until 1894, when President Grover Cleveland and the US Congress made Labor Day a national holiday, signing a law establishing the first Monday in September as the day to recognize the contributions of American workers to the nation.
