Labor Day begs the question: What does organized labor want? The answer is simple and timeless. We want what most workers want. We want a better life for ourselves and our families. We want to unite and change the things that oppress most workers today. Read the full commentary by Eliot Seide, executive director of AFSCME Council 5:

We want respect and dignity. We don’t want bad employers, who kick their workers around during the recession, forcing them to work longer, harder and cheaper while executives line their pockets with gold.

We want secure jobs with good wages and benefits. We don’t want to continue working harder while earning less. We don’t want to be slaves to Wal-Mart and Wall Street. We don’t want St. Paul’s Ford plant to close and shove its workers into the scrap heap. We don’t want bankruptcy courts to permit employers to walk away from pension and health-care obligations to their workers.

We want safe working conditions. We don’t want workers killed or injured on the job. We don’t want more mining and environmental disasters when employers like Massey Energy and BP put profits and production ahead of worker safety and public health. And we certainly don’t want those industry officials put in charge of government oversight programs.

American workers have endured enough. They know they deserve better. Now the labor movement is evolving to meet the challenges of our age. Unions will reach out to all who need fair wages, real health care, a dignified retirement and respect on the job. As union membership swells, workers will build more bargaining and political power. Together, workers will turn their adversity into strength, as they have throughout history.

Bad bosses beware. That’s our union’s message this Labor Day. Wherever workers are screwed, they multiply and fight back. They unite for better solutions.

Tired workers, rejoice. Enjoy a well-deserved day of rest this Labor Day. Then join the labor movement to stop the erosion of workers’ rights.

Never forget that unions have made life better for all working Americans. Unions brought workers the weekend and the 40-hour week. We helped pass laws to end child labor and protect workers’ safety and health. We won battles for Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance and the minimum wage. We fought for health care, sick pay and pensions that brought workers more security. We stood for equity in pay and treatment.

Workers rise or fall together. That’s why my union advocates for all workers – not only our members. We believe all labor should be rewarded with wages that can raise a family, health care if people get sick, and a retirement that’s dignified.

AFSCME Council 5 salutes Minnesota workers and our predecessors who won the rights we now enjoy. As Samuel Gompers, founder of the American Federation of Labor said, “Where trade unions are most firmly organized, there are the rights of the people most respected.” We continue the fight for prosperity and opportunity for all.