Short Stuff: Labor Day

In this Shorty episode, Josh and Chuck dive into the surprisingly radical origins of Labor Day, tracing it back to the brutal working conditions of the 1880s when factory workers were grinding away 10-14 hours a day, seven days a week. They explore how the first Labor Day parade in 1882 actually became a general strike, and how President Grover Cleveland's decision to make it an official holiday might have been either genuine labor reform or just political damage control following a deadly railroad strike. Along the way, they also unpack the weirdly elitist history behind that "no white after Labor Day" fashion rule and chart how union membership in America has plummeted from 40% of the workforce in the 1950s to around 11-14% today.