Members of a marching band perform during the 39th annual Labor Day Parade in Los Angeles, the United States, Sept. 3, 2018. (Xinhua/Zhao Hanrong)
The common misconception is that since Labor Day is a national holiday, everyone gets the day off. Nothing could be further from the truth, says ABC10.
NEW YORK, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- Labor Day's founders in the late 1800s envisioned something very different from what the day has become -- they were looking for two things: a means of unifying union workers and a reduction in work time, reported U.S. local television station ABC10 on Monday.
"Today Labor Day is no longer about trade unionists marching down the street with banners and their tools of trade. Instead, it is a confused holiday with no associated rituals," said the report.
The original holiday was meant to handle a problem of long working hours and no time off. Although the battle over these issues would seem to have been won long ago, this issue is starting to come back with a vengeance, not for manufacturing workers but for highly skilled white-collar workers, according to ABC10.
Meanwhile, "the common misconception is that since Labor Day is a national holiday, everyone gets the day off. Nothing could be further from the truth," it said.
"Proclaiming any day an official holiday means little, as an official holiday does not require private employers and even some government agencies to give their workers the day off," it added. ■