The character of the Labor Day celebration has undergone a palpable shift in recent years, especially in large industrial centers where mass displays and huge parades have given way to scaled-down parades, and neighborhood cookouts. But long before Labor Day symbolized the end of summer, and the closing of the municipal pool, it was a celebration of this country’s backbone – its laborers.

The first governmental recognition of Labor Day came through municipal ordinances passed during 1885 and 1886. In 1894 President Grover Cleveland declared Labor Day a national holiday. Throughout the 20th century, the interests of labor groups were firmly entrenched in the populist vision and the platform of the Democratic Party. But starting in the 1960s and 1970s, a chasm began to grow within the Democratic Party between the established interests of the labor movement and the emerging interests of the environmental movement.

For the next several decades, environmental groups and labor unions battled it out in the trenches of the Democratic Party, much to the pleasure of Republican operatives, who saw the internal tensions within the Democratic Party as politically advantageous.

However, a new phenomenon has emerged, moving these two natural allies back towards one another. Focusing on the possibility of green collar jobs and a new energy economy, pro-labor and pro-environment coalitions are now dotting the political landscape with a coherent vision that combines the goals of environmental protection and job growth.

New organizations like the Apollo Alliance, and the BlueGreen Alliance have enabled big players in the environmental movement like the Sierra Club, the NRDC, and Greenpeace, to join forces with the United Steelworkers of America, AFL-CIO, the Service Employees International Union, and even the Teamsters Union, to push forward with a clean energy/job growth agenda. An agenda that certainly makes some sectors of established corporate interests very nervous.

JIm Hoffa’s recent announcement that the Teamsters Union would withdrawal from the ANWR coalition, cited the need to build a green economy that fosters the development of alternative energy sources and creates good union jobs—instead of lining the pockets of big oil tycoons. Hoffa said:



“The environment has paid an even heavier price. Global warming is for real. Air pollution is killing people and making our children sick. And you know what? We share some of the blame. In the past, we were forced to make a false choice. The choice was: Good Jobs or a Clean Environment. We were told no pollution meant no jobs. If we wanted clean air, the economy would suffer and jobs would be sent overseas. Well guess what? We let the big corporations pollute and the jobs went overseas anyway. We didn’t enforce environmental regulations and the economy still went in the toilet. The middle class got decimated and the environment is on the brink of disaster. Well I say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! No more false divides. The future, if we are to prosper as a nation, will lie in a green economy….”

Hoffa went on to say:

“We are not going to drill our way out of the energy problems we are facing—not here and not in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. We must find a long-term approach that breaks our dependence on foreign oil by investing in the development of alternate energy sources like solar, wind and geothermal power.”

The false choice of ‘economy versus the environment’ that Hoffa speaks of has been the critical component of virtually every single argument against a progressive energy and environmental policy this country has ever seen. It is on this false choice that big business and anti-environment groups have successfully prevented the United States from enacting energy and environmental policies that protect the interests of hard-working American families.

Fortunately, the arguments underpinning this false dichotomy are eroding as millions of Americans of all stripes begin to see that economic well-being and environmental protection are entirely compatible. So, this Labor Day, don’t be worried if you find yourself tending to a crowded grill full of hot dogs, veggie burgers, grass-fed beef hamburgers, and tofu dogs – because there’s plenty of room to cook all of them.

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© Stephen Finn | Dreamstime.com