Look at all of these photos. What are the people doing? Laboring! These are just a few of my family photos showing people at work.
Labor Day, the first Monday in September, came out of the labor movement and was meant to celebrate the social and economic achievements of American workers. The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday (not Monday), September 5, 1882, in New York City, planned by the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday the next year on September 5, 1883.
The first state bill was introduced into the New York legislature, but the first to become law was passed by our neighbor, Oregon, on February 21, 1887. By 1894, 23 more states had adopted the holiday, and on June 28, 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed a law making the first Monday in September of each year a national holiday. Of course, some people just think it's a holiday when you don't have to labor.
Here are books on working, not working, working better, working more....
A life at work: the joy of discovering what you were born to do /Moore, Thomas 158 MOO
The rise of the creative class : and how it's transforming work, leisure, community and everyday life / Florida, Richard L. 303.5 FLO
Shop class as soulcraft : an inquiry into the value of work / Crawford, Matthew B. 331 CRA
Take back your time : fighting overwork and time poverty in America / 646.7 DEG