A Labor Day tradition

Suzie Harrison

Why do workers get time off to honor Labor Day?

That’s a question the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Laguna

Beach will try to answer during its 10:30 a.m to noon service on

Sunday.

During the Labor Day service and celebration, the fellowship will

delve into the history of the labor movement in the U.S. that dates

back to the mid-1800s. Started 10 years ago by the church’s social

committee chair, Jean Raun, the event has become a holiday tradition.

“The idea is that we really want to remember the sacrifices of

people so many years ago that got us where we are today,” Raun said.

Raun pointed out that givens such as a 40-hour work week,

vacation, overtime, retirement and health benefits were unheard of a

century ago and are now sometimes taken for granted.

“The main thing is to remind us once a year that there were people

who gave their lives for the labor movement,” Raun said.

Some of the conditions workers had to endure seem unfathomable

today, even though they do not date back terribly far. At the turn of

the century, according to one story Raun tells, women working at a

sweatshop in the garment industry were locked in under horrible

conditions. When the building caught on fire, they had no way of

getting out and all 140 of them died in the fire.

This Sunday the church will have as its guest speaker Reina

Schmitz, who is an organizer for the Service Employees International

Union, responsible for the successful Justice for Janitors campaign.

“These people are the most vulnerable and we tend to want to

support those groups,” Raun said.

Now, Raun added, conditions have improved in a lot of areas.

“There are people in this fellowship who are really pretty active

in the Labor Movement who remember those times and want to keep them

alive,” Raun said.

During the service the church honors people who have been

significant in helping further the movement.

“People don’t know the history; an example is the unions in the

1940s feather bedding -- they were so afraid of technology that with

advancement people would lose jobs. We want people to understand it

was a big fight,” Raun said.

Events such as the 1894 Pullman strike, the Taft Hartley Act and

people like Joe Hill helped fight the exploitation of labor, she

said.

“We advocate a sincere and honest look at what we can do to

change. We’re not afraid to take on issues a lot of other churches

avoid,” church President Daga Krackowizer said.

The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Laguna Beach is at 429

Cypress. To contact the church, call 497-4568.