Labor Day 2009

The national holiday on Monday is a singular celebration of American workers, and it stands apart from most other holidays in its lack of ritual — there is no music, no traditional meal and no parade that accompanies Labor Day.

Although it began with a parade: the first observance of Labor Day was a parade of 10,000 workers on Sept. 5, 1882, in New York city, organized by Peter J. McGuire, a Carpenters and Joiners Union secretary. Two years later President Grover Cleveland signed a bill designating the first Monday in September as Labor Day.

So whom are we celebrating? The U.S. Census Bureau, our national source for counting heads, reports the latest available statistics:

There are just over one hundred and fifty-five million people age sixteen and over in the American labor force. At last count, in round numbers there were seven million teachers, a million and a half chief executives, two million janitors, a million computer software engineers, eight hundred thousand electricians, three million registered nurses, seven hundred thousand social workers, seven hundred thousand hairdressers, three hundred thousand chefs, three hundred thousand taxi drivers, two hundred thousand roofers, two hundred thousand musicians and artists, and seven hundred thousand farmers and ranchers. Nearly eight million people work more than one job.

This last fact will sound familiar on an Island where moonlighting is a well-settled fact of life, and where the cost of living ranks among the highest, and median income among the lowest in the state.

And on the Island Labor Day does have a certain ritual; it signals the end of summer in a resort community, which means an exodus of visitors and the slowing of business and trades that depend on these visitors and form the backbone of the Island economy. It is a time to look back on summer commerce — how was it this year?

By most accounts it was off, especially in retail, construction and real estate, three key sectors of the economy. This may signal that the national recession has not yet fully hit the Island yet, which may in turn signal a hard winter ahead.

But Islanders are by nature creative, resilient and self-reliant, important traits for weathering economic down times. There will be scalloping, quahaugging and fishing this fall, and vegetable gardens to harvest, all good for putting food on the table. There will be hikes and walks on the many land bank and properties, free and good for maintaining physical and mental health. The Island will survive; it always does.

And first there is Labor Day to celebrate, in recognition of the thousands of workers who keep the Island afloat, in good times and in bad.