This Monday is not only a day off work for most of us, but also an opportunity to celebrate our workforce and all you do for our community. Of course, it also remembers all the workers throughout our country!
As a nation, we’ve been celebrating Labor Day for over a century. The national holiday was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Grover Cleveland in 1894. It followed a period of significant labor strife and came after the infamous Haymarket Riot of 1886 in Chicago. (Notably, the “riot” was the result of workers rallying in support of an 8-hour workday.)
In addition to celebrating all workers, the holiday provides us the opportunity to thank all our labor partners and our Labor Relations team!
At Pierce County, nearly 2/3 of you are represented by one of our nearly two dozen bargaining groups. Our labor partners are key to providing quality service to the people of Pierce County. I appreciate their advocacy on behalf of our employee groups – they each represent a specific group and their specific issues.
I also really appreciate our County Labor Relations team – they represent the County in working with our labor unions. As you can imagine, some issues are unique to a particular bargaining group, but with many issues we must treat all our employees fairly and consistently. My thanks go out to our Human Resources Labor Relations team.
Most people think their work is only negotiating the 21 collective bargaining agreements – and that is critically important work that takes a lot of effort and collaboration on both sides of the table. But the work doesn’t stop there. Labor Relations and our labor partners also work to ensure the contracts are administered fairly and consistently and respond to any unforeseen issues – like a pandemic!
And finally, I would be remiss to not mention our County colleagues who will be working on Labor Day! 24-7-365 our co-workers are operating our wastewater treatment plant, patrolling our streets, keeping our jail secure, and keeping our traffic lights working and our roads safe – just to name a few.
So, enjoy your Labor Day – you earned it!
Thanks for reading,
Bruce