Labor day and the war on workers

We celebrate Labor Day every year with barbecues and picnics, rarely rememb ering that the holiday was born in the midst of tremendous labor struggles to improve working conditions. In the last century, 16-hour workdays and: 6 - and 7-day workweeks led to terribly high injury rates in the nation's min es and mills. Thousands upon thousands of workers died, caught in the grind ing machinery of our growing industries. Today, despite improvements, thousands of workers still die in what has bee n described as a form of war on the American workforce. This commentary rem inds us of the historical toll in lives and limbs that workers have paid to provide us with our modern prosperity. it also reminds us that the continu ing toll is far too high and that workers who died and continue to die in o rder to produce our wealth deserve to be remembered and honored on this nat ional holiday.