Here in the United States today is Labor Day, a holiday celebrated on the first Monday in September. For many Labor Day represents the “end of summer” with school in many areas beginning the next day. For many of us it represents the last three-day weekend of the summer, signaling the start of cooler weather. But the day actually has a long history in the U.S., with strong linkages to organized labor, and it’s for this reason that I find myself thinking of my father on Labor Day.

Over his lifetime my father held many different jobs. But on his last conscious day in hospice he responded to a Chaplain’s casual question about his work experiences that he had been “a union officer.” He went on to talk about having fought for union rights in his factory and against the company’s efforts to break one strike. […]