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I’m always a bit saddened when I read Jewish forums on Labor Day and no notice is given to those who should be remembered on this day. When my parents first came over to America there was no such thing as a 5 day 40 hour work week. At the age of 7 my mother was working in a sweatshop, 6.5 days a week, 12 hour days. The rest of the family was similarly employed. Poor Jews worked on shabbos in those days, if you didn’t work you didn’t have a job. In 1908 a mill in New England established a five day work week so their Jewish employees could have shabbos. In 1926 Henry Ford followed. By 1927 the JLC had the support of rabbis for the 5 day week. By 1929 the Amalgamated Clothing Workers negotiated a contract for a five day week. The needle trades were an industry dominated by Jews, Jews who owned the factories and Jews who were the workers. This move paved the way for a 5 day work week across the needle trades and other industries.
I’m often saddened because among the Jews Labor Day is a seldom celebrated holiday that was largely the result of the efforts, sacrifices and struggles of Jewish workers. To a greater extent these Jews gave their landsmen the ability to truly celebrate shabbos.
Just something to think about. I’m off to watch a parade and picnic with the family and extended family.
Amil Zola
How old are you? Did your parents arrive in the US prior to 1920? Maybe you mean your grandparents?
I’m a 5th generation born American. The 40 hour work week was in effect for my grandparents when they entered the workforce in the mid Nineteen teens.
We have Jewish holidays to focus on.
Labor Day honors the end of summer. American’s like holidays. We shouldn’t complain.
The decision to switch to a five day week was obviously a critical in the development of the frum community since under the previous standard six day week, it was almost impossible for a frum Jew to find work except in a frum owned business. Indeed, until the Civil Rights Act of 1964, even Friday afternoon were a problem during the winter months. However the switch to a shorter and more flexible work week has nothing to do with Labor Day.
@Joseph
So, come pick up your daughter already. Last year she was with us in the CTL compound until after Sukkos.
Such lovely children you have, but they must want to be home for Yuntif. Mrs. CTL already took the shaineh maidel shopping and she has all new Yuntif outfits including shoes
She’s welcome to return next summer, our granddaughters love her company, and we appreciate how well behaved and helpful she is.@Amil Zola
You have conflated my post with Joseph. I asked about he age, he reminded you about Jewish holidays.
My question about age was sincere. I am turning 65. My parents were born in NYC in 1920. My grandparents were born in NYC in the 1890s. It is highly unusual to have parents who arrived in the US circa 1900 and be an internet user in 2018. Most people in the USA in the first half of the 20th Century had children before the age of 40, if you are typical you would be in your late 80s or 90s.
My zaidy was a shirtmaker belonging to the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. By 1920 they had a standard 44 hour workweek in NYC. By 1923 he opened his own manufacturing business. His workers worked an 8 hour day and he never had the factory open on Shabbos or Yuntif. None of the family has been a worker since that time, all have been professionals and work hours have not been an issue. Owners are free to work as many hours as they wish. I work far more hours than my employees do
Amil: Editing is only available for the first about 15 minutes after the post is approved by a moderator.
CTL,
1. At that time it was a voluntary contractual arrangement. Under the “Lochner” doctrine it would have been unconstitutional to impose it by law.
2. Unless he had his own firm Shabbat was also an issue for professionals as offices were open at least a half day on Sat (as are banks and post offices today). Even if officially there was a five-day work week many employees expected such employees to come in. Even though he was on the Harvard Law Review Nat Lewin could not find a job with a firm. Finally Justice John Harlan agreed that he could work on Sun instead. Even today, there is a loophole in the non-discrimination law for employers who can prove that accommodations would harm their businesses.
3. Even with a five-day work week there are issues on Fri during the winter. Not to mention Yom Tov. In fact, I once read about a woman who was fired for taking off from her bank job on the first two days of Sukkot. The non-observant Jewish officers told her boss that it is only a minor holiday.@Amil Zola
As I explained, people in their 80s and 90s are in the vast minority of computer users, even more so among frum women.When my father Z”L was niftar in 2009 (age 89) he was still typing on a manual typewriter and using carbon paper. The computer and copy machine we had given him as gifts sat untouched in his home office. My mother wrote everything by hand. She had beautiful handwriting. In fact, she hand wrote her Master’s and Doctoral dissertations in Education, something that has not been permitted in the past 60 years.I was sent to summer school after 4th grade to learn to type because my penmanship was so poor.
Amil (is that a deliberate misspelling?) Zola, in most cases SCOTUS, followingLochner vs NY, which established a right of contract under the Fourteenth Amendment, struck down labor laws. That did not end until 1937 with West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish. Some scholars think that Janus vs AFSCME set the stage for a comeback.
Interesting post, and comments.
I should note that rabbis across the country have given Dvar Torahs focusing on Labor Day, workers, Jewish tradition and texts, many of them encouraged to do so by the JLC – that is, the Jewish Labor Committee.Here’s an Op Ed by Rabbi Elias Lieberman on Labor Day in the Cape Cod Times: Sorry, no external links allowed
Akuperma we have more days off than average Americans sickos and pesach are massive. You should respect every american holiday as our people owe this country a lot.
Interesting post, and comments.
I should note that rabbis across the country have given Dvar Torahs focusing on Labor Day, workers, Jewish tradition and texts, many of them encouraged to do so by the JLC – that is, the Jewish Labor Committee.
An Op Ed by Rabbi Elias Lieberman, “MATTERS OF FAITH: This Labor Day, celebrate the rights gained by sacrifices of workers,” in the Cape Cod Times, is online – as well as these three items, links are on the Jewish Labor Committee’s website – just scroll down on the right.* The American Jewish Labor Movement – Basic Sources
* Traditional Jewish texts on Labor and Worker Rights – Basic Sources
* Labor Rights in the Jewish Tradition, by Michael S. PerryIt’s very obvious that Amil Zola is as old as she says she is, assuming she’s in the same age bracket as her husband who opened the account. Very few younger people would know who Emil Zola was. (One person here does seem to know – hence their question about spelling.) He was the principle defender of Alfred Dreyfus, whose anti-Semitic trial inspired Theodor Herzl to campaign for a Jewish state.
Yes, late life babies existed even back in the day, although they were rarer. We should be treasuring our seniors for what they can tell us of history. (Disclaimer: I’m 72- not old enough yet to be an authority, but working on it. :-))
Midwest2: I consider you to be a young whippersnapper.
AZ, why did he spell it with an “A” (@Midwest, you also misspelled his first name)? BTW, his full name was Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola.
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