No Holiday for the Unemployed

It’s Labor Day 2012 and many of you are enjoying the day off. For those without jobs, however, it’s a bitter reminder of what they’ve lost or can’t have—hardly a cause for celebration.

In an effort to reach across the divide, here’s something everyone can enjoy: two generations sharing their responses to a job rejection letter. (If you’ve seen this already, pass it on to someone who could use a smile.)

Another Labor Day? Just Another Day for the Jobless

Say what you will about unions, but until all businesses and organizations are run by socially responsible, compassionate people who serve their employees and community as well as their shareholders and themselves, we need ’em.

Hey! Hey! Hey! It's Labor Day . . .

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Here's an occasion the unemployed can feel good about.  

Labor Day has been celebrated in this country since 1882 with parades, speeches, and family recreation. It's a holiday we borrowed from Canada and one that we've slowly turned into an outdoor grilling event.

I know someone who's marking today as her last in the ranks of the fully unemployed: Tomorrow, she begins a new job. But it's not the job she hoped for, and it's not even a full-time job. As far as she's concerned, she's still on the lookout for work that makes use of her skills and that maybe even engages and challenges her. As far as the government is concerned, she's no longer UNemployed, and can be dropped from the tally of displaced workers. But who can live on a part-time job at slightly more than a minimum wage? How can we ignore this portion of the workforce when sizing up the gravity of our labor situation?

[Photo: 1920s Del Monte workers, on Foundsf.]