Part of what makes the United States unique is our celebration of this holiday on the first Monday in September. Only America and Canada have Labor Day today.
In many countries, it’s called “International Workers’ Day,” and it’s on the first of May. That difference is instructive. Other countries celebrate workers as a separate, distinct class. We, in contrast, honor work itself as a noble pursuit — as something that brings everyone in this country together.
In addition to just enforcing the law, I believe our duty at the Department of Labor means sticking up for the very idea of work, which is being ridiculed in some circles. Let us address the dignity of work, because it is this profound respect for all working Americans that informs our conduct and our mission at the Department of Labor.
From the safety of some campuses or well-endowed think tanks, we hear a growing drumbeat about the imminent end of work. We hear about automation, artificial intelligence, and the coming fifth industrial revolution — the one where the robots come to take all our jobs. This is nonsense, and to be honest, it’s boring. It’s the same hysteria behind the Luddites smashing the first textile machines 200 years ago. What I think is different now isn’t fear of new technology or machines taking away jobs, but the implication that work itself has become obsolete, and that working is something for suckers.
It goes without saying that this view is espoused most fervently by those who already enjoy large paychecks, safe inheritances, or tenure.
We honor work itself as a noble pursuit. All work. Any kind of work. In hard work itself there is meaning, calling, and purpose.
People want to work! And we as a culture, as a country, should be recommitting ourselves to recognizing the dignity of work, whether you work on Main Street, Wall Street, under the street, sweeping the street, or paving the street. It used to go without saying, but now it must be said —there is always dignity in work, in any work.
Working is associated with a host of positive, non-economic outcomes. It brings lower incidences of crime and drug abuse, higher church attendance, greater social engagement and family formation, better overall health, and mental well-being. All of these effects are, of course, related, because in America the dignity of work facilitates community engagement and civic participation, a sense of independence and freedom, and the shared experiences that form many relationships.
Many of you reading this may not have liked your first job; maybe it didn’t pay well. Maybe your boss was a jerk. Maybe a few of your coworkers were less than friendly. But can any of you say you would have been better off not having worked during that time? That you made no friends, or acquired no skills, or learned nothing about your new associates that enriched your life or stoked your imagination? That you didn’t feel a sense of pride in what you did?
Of course not. There is always dignity in work.
Some young Americans, fed by false metrics of success, are delaying entry into the workforce. The college-or-fail approach undermines the celebration of work and the individual decisions of making the best choice for a rewarding career.
This is a much-needed realignment, because our resources have been misallocated. The federal government spends more than $10,000 a year per college student, but we don’t need more humanities majors. We need more plumbers than poets; more journeymen than journalists. That’s not to knock poetry or journalism, it’s just that neither of those noble pursuits require specialized training or the college degree so many young people go into debt to obtain.
A handful of music majors would be nice, but we are in need of machinists — lots of machinists. If we can shift our thinking this way, we are much more likely to fill the 7.3 million jobs currently unfilled, especially in sectors where we consistently hear about a shortage of workers — health care, manufacturing, restaurants, information technology, and construction, for example. President Trump has prioritized workforce development through the expansion of apprenticeships and the Pledge to America’s Workers. These efforts will result in prosperous careers.
On this 125th Labor Day, with the lowest unemployment rate on Labor Day since 1969, we join Trump in honoring the dignity of work, and invite more Americans to subscribe to the idea that there is an abundance of work choices for Americans that aligns with the celebration of work that is part of our national fabric.
Happy Labor Day.
Patrick Pizzella is the acting U.S. secretary of labor.
