Editorial: A Labor Day tribute to the essential worker

Labor Day was born in 1894 as a political outreach to unions following a bitter and bloody Pullman Strike, and there was a time when the holiday was galvanizing, at least in union households.

But it's lost some of its magic over the years.

For most Americans, the day off has become more a celebration of leisure than of labor, a lazy, sun-drenched holiday of picnics, barbecues and pool closings that mark the end of the summer.

There's nothing wrong with that relaxation. There is no reason to apologize for it.

But in the year of the pandemic, the holiday takes on special meaning. This year, let us all pay tribute to the essential worker.

Without any question, it has been a tough year for everyone. Many are unemployed. Almost everyone is isolated and at some times, lonely. Many are working from home.

But many don't have the option of working from home.

These are the people who are on the front lines of the pandemic. They do the work that, by definition, the rest of us need to have done. They keep us fed. They protect our health. They keep the economy going.

They also put themselves in harm's way. Their risk of exposure to the virus is far greater than the risk of anyone who works from a keyboard in a spare bedroom.

These are the people we all must wear masks for.

We owe it to them to do our part to protect them. Yes, we owe it to them to wear masks.

And we owe them more than that. We owe them respect and dignity and living wages.

They are health care workers, and first responders and scientists working to find treatments and cures.

They are bus drivers and train conductors and air traffic controllers.

They are the people who work in grocery stores and restaurants and the people who drop off our food at contact-free carryouts and delivered to our doors.

They fix our streets and roof our homes and collect our garbage. They make our masks and produce our disinfectants and fill our prescriptions.

They serve the homeless and care for the needy and bury the dead.

They repair downed power lines and clean the water and control the wildlife.

And yes, they photograph the news and print the paper and deliver it to your home.

These and more are the essential workers, and this holiday is for them.

These are the essential workers, often underappreciated, frequently underpaid, seldom thanked, and the thing is, we couldn't do without them.

Especially now, in the middle of a pandemic.