It's Labor Day weekend! Maybe you and your family are planning a lakefront barbecue, a picnic at the park or a weekend trip.
But what are we celebrating when we celebrate Labor Day?
Labor is another word for work, and Labor Day celebrates working people.
This Labor Day, get inspired by tales of American workers, real and fictional, who came together to demand fair treatment at work. They organized to give us holidays, weekends and so much more.
On Our Way to Oyster Bay: 8-year-old Aiden and his friend Gussie leave the factory to march with Mother Jones. Where is she going? To Oyster Bay to tell President Roosevelt that children should be learning, not working in factories. This is a fictional account of the 1903 Children's March.
Brave Girl: New York City, 1909: 20,000 women factory workers took to the streets. Why? Because they were underpaid, overworked and on strike. This is the true story of the biggest walkout of women workers in U.S. history and their leader, Clara Lemlich.
Strike!: California, 1965: Filipino workers walk out of the vineyards. The harvest will have to wait. Why? The workers are on strike until they receive better pay and living conditions. Enter Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers union.
Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop: Memphis, 1968: Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech to striking sanitation workers. Why? Because this strike was about better pay, better equipment and dignity.
Undocumented: This graphic novel set in present-day America tells the story of Juan, who crosses the border from Mexico to the United States to find work to support his family. Juan finds work in a restaurant, but because he is undocumented, his boss doesn't pay him fairly. What can Juan do?
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