Labor Day

Labor Day, written by Kara Fried. Focus question, why is Labor Day important?

《劳动节》，卡拉·弗里德 著。 思考问题：劳动节为什么很重要？

Back to School Many students in the United States go back to school right after Labor Day, the first Monday in September. For those students, this federal holiday marks the end of summer. It's a time to enjoy one last blast of fun before the school year starts. Many businesses and all government offices close, and communities often hold parades and picnics. People may go to the beach or just enjoy the extra day off at home. Labor Day isn't just a day to take it easy, though. It's also a day the U .S. government set aside to honor the achievements of American workers, past and present. To understand what Labor Day honors, it's important to learn about the labor movement. This movement involves workers joining together to improve the way they work and live.

重返校园 在美国，很多学生会在九月的第一个星期一，也就是劳动节过后重返校园。 对这些学生来说，这个联邦假日标志着夏天的结束。 这是新学年开始前，尽情享受最后一场欢乐的日子。 多数商家和所有政府部门都会放假，社区还常常举办游行和野餐活动。 人们可能会去海边，或是宅在家里享受这个额外的休息日。 不过，劳动节可不只是用来放松休息的日子。 它还是美国政府设立的节日，用来纪念古往今来美国劳动者的成就。 要理解劳动节的纪念意义，了解工人运动十分重要。 这场运动就是劳动者联合起来，改善自身工作与生活状况的运动。

Machines and Workers During the Industrial Revolution, late 1700s to early 1800s, many new kinds of technology were invented. The inventions allowed many jobs, once done by hand, to be done much faster and more easily by machines. Farmers began using machines to plant and harvest crops. Many small farmers who could not afford to buy the machines lost their jobs. Also, factories could produce items at a much lower cost than small home businesses. Because of these changes, many people in farming communities moved to cities and went to work in factories. Many employers wanted to pay workers as little as possible so the businesses could keep more money. Though some employers treated their workers well, many did not. During the 1800s, low wages, long workdays, and terrible working conditions were common in the United States. The labor movement began as a result of workers wanting more a voice in how they were treated.

机器与劳动者 18世纪末到19世纪初的工业革命时期，诞生了许多新型科技发明。 这些发明让许多原本靠手工完成的工作，变成由机器更快更轻松地完成。 农民开始用机器播种和收割庄稼。 许多买不起机器的小农户丢掉了工作。 此外，工厂生产商品的成本比小型家庭作坊低得多。 这些变化让很多农村居民搬到城市，进入工厂工作。 很多雇主想给工人开尽可能少的工资，这样企业就能留更多利润。 虽然有些雇主善待工人，但很多雇主并没有这么做。 19世纪的美国，低工资、长工时和恶劣工作条件是非常普遍的情况。 工人运动就是劳动者想要争取更多话语权，改变自身待遇而兴起的。

Tough Jobs Many workers in the 1800s didn't get much time off. At that time, the United States had no rules about how many hours people worked each day or week. The average factory worker worked 100 hours a week. That's about 14 hours each day, every day. People worked as much as they were told to because they didn't want to lose their jobs.

艰辛的工作 19世纪的很多劳动者几乎没有休假时间。 那时候，美国还没有法规规定人们每天或每周的工作时长。 工厂工人平均每周要工作100个小时。 相当于每天都要工作大约14个小时，天天如此。 因为害怕丢掉工作，人们只能服从安排干这么久的活。

Child labor The industrial revolution also led to an increase in child labor. In many factories, the machines could be run by children. Children were also cheaper to hire and easier to control than adults. By the early 1800s, about two million school -age children were working in mills or factories in the United States. Many were from families too poor to support them. Children often held jobs before the age of seven. Many worked six days a week for up to 18 hours each day. They had little time for rest and no time for school or play. They often faced dangerous working conditions. Many became ill from the long hours at work.

童工问题 工业革命也让童工数量大幅增加。 在很多工厂里，机器就可以由儿童操作。 而且儿童比成年人薪资更低，也更容易管控。 到19世纪初，美国大约有两百万学龄儿童在磨坊或工厂做工。 这些孩子大多来自养不起他们的贫困家庭。 孩子们常常不到七岁就开始工作。 很多人每周工作六天，每天工作长达十八个小时。 他们几乎没有时间休息，更没有时间上学和玩耍。 他们往往还要面对危险的工作环境。 很多人因为长时间工作落下了病根。

Workers join together. Over time, workers began to join together to change things. They formed labor unions, groups set up to protect workers' rights. Labor unions bargain with employers for better hours, wages, working conditions, and benefits. Unions can call a strike to gain a stronger hand in talks with employers. During a strike, workers refused to do any more work until changes are made. In 1869, President Ulysses S. Grant announced that government workers only had to work eight hours each day. Soon after, an effort began to get a similar law passed for people working for private organizations.

劳动者们联合起来。 久而久之，劳动者开始联合起来改变现状。 他们组建了工会，也就是专门保护劳动者权益的组织。 工会会和雇主谈判，争取更合理的工时、工资、工作条件和福利。 工会可以发起罢工，在和雇主谈判时争取更大的主动权。 罢工期间，工人会拒绝工作，直到雇主做出改变。 1869年，尤利西斯·S·格兰特总统宣布，政府雇员每天只需要工作八个小时。 不久之后，人们开始推动为私营企业的劳动者也订立同类法律。