What is Labor Day Anyway?

  Labor Day is one of the most celebrated yet least recognized holidays. We tend to forget all about it until we realize it means we’ll get a 3 day weekend and that weird/silly rule saying we shouldn’t wear white after the holiday. It’s about more than shopping sales and a possible barbeque. Iron Bean Coffee is the hardest working coffee so I wanted to take a moment to give Labor Day and our American workforce the recognition it deserves.

  Labor Day is a celebration of the back-bone of our nation, the American Worker. Labor Day was borne out of the labor movement, various groups of people who came together to fight for worker’s rights. We take for granted so much of what they achieved, a standard 40 hour work week, fair pay and safe working conditions. During the industrial revolution factory work grew tremendously and brought significant social changes. Many people left rural areas and moved into the cities in search of employment. At the time the typical American worked 12-hour days seven days a week just to earn a modest living. The jobs were often hazardous and unsafe with very few, if any breaks. In those times even young children were subjected to such conditions. Those who led the labor movement truly made a difference for us all.

  Labor Day, the first Monday of September, was first recognized as a federal holiday in 1894. A day to celebrate the people who make this country strong. Without our workers America would never have been able to achieve the prosperity that it has. There are no set rituals for Labor Day like other holidays (Thanksgiving dinner, Easter egg hunts, etc), so I like to think of it as a day that we workers get to do whatever we like. We work hard and we’ve earned it! Sadly not everyone gets the day off, but we luckily are able to reap the rewards of the hard work our ancestors did to bring us the benefits we enjoy. Today’s workforce has it good in comparison to the past, but we should never lose the spirit of Labor Day. There’s always room for improvement!

  When I look at Iron Bean coffee I see the embodiment of these ideals. Chanell works full-time at Iron Bean and Fred works a full-time job on top of running Iron Bean. They are often roasting and packing into the wee hours of the night.

  They work hard to make Iron Bean happen and truly earn the name ‘Hardest working coffee’. They roast ‘working class coffee’ for those of us who have to get up, get at it and get the job done. We need their delicious coffee to help wake us up and keep us going for work and they need our support to keep Iron Bean alive, it’s a pretty awesome symbiotic relationship. They know what us regular people go through because they are regular people working their hardest to make it happen like the rest of us. To all of us hard-workers out there, mugs up!