On Labor Day weekend we celebrate the end of summer — one last day at the beach, barbecue, watermelon… (mmm… watermelon…) — and our thoughts turn to the things the autumn months bring — kids heading back to school, fall colors and some long-awaited cooler days.
But rarely do most Americans actually think about Labor on Labor Day. Yes, Labor with a capital “L”. The basis of all wealth. The thing that puts food on our tables, clothes on our backs, and roofs over our heads. The stuff we do most of our waking lives and through which we define a large part of ourselves.
Well, there are some people who still think about workers — and in particular, workers fighting for fairer wages and working conditions — on Labor Day, and this year, a number of them thought, and wrote, about the Campaign for Fair Food!
Here are some links to a few great reflections on the campaign, on its strategy, its successes, and on the struggle that lies ahead with the supermarket industry. If you have a second today, take a look, you’ll be glad you did:
- “This Labor Day, Will Trader Joe’s Agree to Fair Food?,” Leslie Hatfield, Huffington Post, 9/310
- “Killer Tomatoes,” Wayne Roberts, Toronto Now, 9/2-9/10
- “Five Workplace Reforms to Fight for this Labor Day,” Rinku Sen, ColorLines Magazine, 9/3/10
And here’s a quick excerpt just to get you started. From “This Labor Day, Will Trader Joe’s Agree to Fair Food”:
| “… If you eat a tomato this weekend – or even if you hate tomatoes – try to honor the holiday by thinking about who picked it. If, like those of us in New York, you’ve been suffering an uncommonly hot summer, consider what it might be like to pick two tons of tomatoes a day under the Florida sun, all to earn $50 or $60. Ask yourself if you’d want to earn a more livable wage, to be assured things like access to water and shade and protection from pesticide spray, and to have a voice in the circumstances under which you went to work. I would.” read more |
Happy Labor Day!