By J. Patrick Coolican | Editor-in-chief
Good morning, Reformers.
Happy Labor Day. Today we honor the brave labor organizers whose activism in the face of the threat of violence and penury gave us weekends, overtime, social insurance and other markers of civilization that we now take for granted.
Some trivia: There’s an ongoing debate over credit for the late 19th century founding of Labor Day: Matthew Maguire, the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, New Jersey; or Peter McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor.
Both the sons of Irish immigrants.
Some special Reformer Labor Day offerings:
Dozens of concessions workers picket outside Target Field during a one-day strike on June 22, 2026. (Photo by Max Nesterak/Minnesota Reformer)
By Alyssa Chen
Minnesota continues be a good place to work, with higher wages, job growth and union density than the nation as a whole, as well as worker protections such as the state’s new paid leave program. But Minnesota’s labor market also faced some turbulence over the past year, in part from the surge in immigration enforcement over the winter that left many immigrants afraid to leave their homes to work and shop.
By Kevin Hardy
Last year, the nation added more than 411,000 union members — the largest annual growth since 2008, according to a study published just ahead of the Labor Day holiday by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute and the Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
At the end of last year, more than 14.6 million American workers belonged to a union — about 10% of the workforce, the study said.
While union membership grew across the country, the State of the Unions report found that states that have sought to protect or strengthen collective bargaining rights added three times as many union members as so-called right-to-work states, which prohibit mandatory union membership or dues as conditions of employment.
By Martin Luther King Jr.
“I look forward confidently to the day when all who work for a living will be one, with no thought of their separateness as Negroes, Jews, Italians or any other distinctions. This will be the day when we shall bring into full realization the dream of American democracy, a dream yet unfulfilled. A dream of equality of opportunity, a privilege and property widely distributed. A dream of a land where men will not take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few. A dream of a land where men will not argue that the color of a man’s skin determines the content of his character. A dream of a nation where all our gifts and resources are held not for ourselves alone, but as instruments of service, for the rest of humanity.”
Have a great Labor Day! JPC
Thanks for reading Daily Reformer. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.