Americaworks!

Today we commemorate the 114th observance of Labor Day as a national holiday. And whether you choose to observe it with a backyard barbecue or a trip to a local community event, you're part of a tradition.

Labor Day was first celebrated Sept. 15, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. Congress declared it a national holiday in 1894.

The U.S. Department of Labor, in tracing the history of the holiday on its Web site, notes:

The vital force of labor added materially to the highest standard of living and the greatest production the world has ever known and has brought us closer to the realization of our traditional ideals of economic and political democracy. It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation pay tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation's strength, freedom, and leadership -- the American worker.

While Labor Day is an American holiday, many people today don't care as much about its purpose as its practice. It has come to be as much an end-of-summer rite as anything -- the last three-day, warm-weather holiday weekend of the year.

For local students who haven't already made the trek back, school starts Tuesday. For those who began classes as early as Aug. 25, it's an early break in the action.

It was and is a worthy holiday, but today it has come to signify different things. Labor Day celebrates the American work ethic and American values of work equity. Where once much of the focus was on organized labor, that has blurred considerably in recent years.

The workplace has become much more amenable to the worker. The American system generally produces more products that work, have value and quality. Americans have not lost the appreciation of a day's work for a day's pay, and the country's standard of living -- among the highest in the world -- attests to it.

In the global marketplace, trends reveal that modern production technology and disparities in labor costs, particularly in less-developed but rapidly modernizing nations, sometimes leave American products and workers at a disadvantage. That is particularly true with the trend that finds American jobs going to emerging nations overseas where pay for workers is usually much lower.

In the long run, however, that modernization in other countries will create new markets for U.S. products, ideas and services. And, to the extent that the United States emerges no longer as a wealthy giant astride a poor world but a peer among competing world trade partners, the world community will benefit because of it.

Americans have always thrived on challenges, and America has become the most prosperous of nations because of American values relating to work and business.

America works! And however imperfect and worthy of constructive critique the overall American approach to work may be, it remains the most successful and envied in the world, and deservedly so.

Americans still go to work to get the job done, and that is not likely to change. Labor Day is no small celebration of our collective cultural values in that regard.

So enjoy it. Tomorrow it's back to school and back to work.

* Members of the Yakima Herald-Republic editorial board are Michael Shepard, Sarah Jenkins, Bill Lee and Karen Troianello.

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