Labor day is the direct result of labor regulations. The 40 hour work week is the direct result of labor regulations. The minimum wage is a direct result of labor regulations. The ban on child labor is a direct result of labor regulations.
The laws which made these regulations are less than a hundred years old. In fact, they are 84 years old. We have sitting members of congress who are older than these laws.
The minimum wage has been gutted. What was intended as enough money for a person to live a decent life is now less than a third of the average expenses of a single person living alone let alone a family.
The 40 hour work week is a farce. With forcing people into the so called ‘gig economy’, that protection goes out the window. Because they are now classified as contractors and contractors set their own hours. Even though most contractors, in fact, have set hours they must work. Add in office workers who suddenly find that they are listed as salaried workers which means they no longer have to pay them overtime and we see that the 40 hour work week has become a thinly veiled farce.
As to child labor? Children are allowed to work for family businesses or as young as 14 with the consent of their guardian. While this is the most unchanged of the original law, it is still being eroded. Albeit at a slower pace.
84 year. And the systemic dismantling has been ongoing for at least the last 40 years.
That’s what this day is about. And any conservative that tries to sell you some other bullshit about patriotism or other nonsense, I kindly ask that you sit down and shut up. For once.
Pelgris 