Why do we celebrate
Labor Day?
BY IVY MOORE Features Contributor Traditionally, Labor Day is the unofficial end of summer, but officially the day honors working people. Labor Day began on Sept. 5, 1882, in New York City when approximately 10,000 oppressed laborers marched down Broadway in protest of unsafe working conditions, long hours (12 hours a day, 7 days a week), low pay and child labor. They carried signs including the most memorable: Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, eight hours for recreation. The improvement in working conditions is due almost exclusively to the work of the labor unions of the time. Just three years after the march, cities around the U.S. were observing the working man’s holiday; Oregon was the first state to make Labor Day an official holiday in
1887. By 1894, 31 states had made Labor Day an official day off to honor working people. It had not been an easy achievement. Railroad employees who worked for George Pullman saw their wages cut while the rent on their homes — owned by Pullman — was raised and their working conditions continued to be intolerable. Those issues and the firing of union representatives seemed to be the final indignity visited on the workers. Fully 50,000 workers boycotted trains with Pullman cars, completely stalling rail traffic into and out of Chicago – there was no mail delivered to Chicagoans. The effects of the boycott spread around the country. When the public learned the reasons for the boycott, President Grover Cleveland proclaimed the first Monday in September a national holiday.
Job and income totals by county in greater region BY BRUCE MILLS bruce@theitem.com
Below are official job totals within the various county boundary lines in the greater Midlands region for 2018, excluding military employment – such as at Shaw Air Force Base – which is not tracked by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Per capita personal income totals for 2017 for the various counties are also provided. State totals for each indicator are also listed. The annual totals are the most current available by the official sources.
County
Total jobs within county
Per capita personal income
Sumter
37,801
Clarendon
6,879
$36,887
Lee
3,725
Kershaw
17,391
Florence
64,750
Orangeburg
28,472
Richland
223,063
Lexington
119,817
South Carolina
2,092,727
(excluding military) (2018)
Sources: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for job totals; Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) for income totals.
Income (2017)
$32,037 $31,616 $39,842 $40,411 $32,668 $43,863 $44,497 $41,659 = 20,000
= $20,000
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2019 Labor Day
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I love being able to collaborate with other surgeons and being a part of the rebuilding process with patients.” – Palmetto HealthUSC Plastic Surgery, Emily Clark, MD
Being able to work with an awesome team. Teamwork makes the dream work.” – Cherryvale Elementary School, Sylenthia Arnold
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Force Participation by Women More Labor Education, Women Ages 15-50 a Birth in the Last 12 Months Likely to Have With (in percent) Multiple Jobs
What I love about my job is…
I can give back to the community.” – Door Farms, Marie Door
2019 Labor Day
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Photo by Ivy Moore
Numbers working from home rising Local woman moves from office to sofa in Sumter
BY IVY MOORE Features Contributor Gina Gardner is one in 8 million. She belongs to the 5.2 percent of U.S. workers who do their jobs from home. That’s an increase from 3.3 percent in 2000, according to the U.S. Census. The reason for the increased numbers of those who work from home is attributed largely to improvements in the internet and the satisfaction most of the home workers find in their new situations. Gardner, 55, said her working from home came about when she and her husband, Buddy, who is in a traditional work situation, “decided to completely change our lives. I left a six-figure job in Phoenix, and he wanted to go home (Sumter). I needed a break.” They’ve been living in Sumter for about a year. She had a background in health care marketing, so she “put out feelers to clients in health care” to find those who needed her help. “I put together strategic marketing plans and do writing and project marketing” for them, she said. “My piece adds writing strategy and content development that goes with marketing design for (such companies as BrandHaus.)” From her high-pressure job working in an office, Gardner now works 15 to 20 hours a week, mostly from her sofa, using a laptop computer or smartphone. She’s often accompanied by her dog Spanky, who sits quietly by her side. Until her mother moved from Phoenix to stay with the Gardners in Sumter recently, Spanky was often her only companion during the work day. Working alone from home has it challenges, Gardner said. “It gets lonely. I haven’t met too many people here yet,” she said. “My husband’s family is wonderful. “Also, I have had to develop self-structure and make myself get out of the house.” Gardner also has kept up with her friends in Phoenix and has visited her son and grandchildren “four or five times in their home in Nashville.” While she doesn’t keep specific hours – she sometimes works in the evenings and early mornings, because she has clients in different time zones – Gardner likes the fact that she can do her work on her laptop computer or cellphone “from anywhere, a coffee house or the gym.” The fact that there are few interruptions is also a plus. Getting used to “an entirely new environment” has been gratifying, Gardner said. “To me, it’s been like going back in time (from the big city of Phoenix to Sumter). I love the wonderful pace here. Living here has been like a breath of fresh air – wonderful people, new discoveries, defining myself differently.” Gardner has phone conferences three or four times a week and has deadlines to meet. “My morning routine – I’m loving it, but I also have to discipline myself to make sure I do certain things, like walking, getting my steps in,” she said. “I purposely turn off the TV and turn on instrumental music like classical or jazz.” “I do miss going in to the office and the structure there,” Gardner said, “but I’d be an idiot to go back to that. It was hard in the beginning. Productivity looked very different then. Working from home becomes easier to adjust to now.” She now has more time to learn new things and to do things she loves, she said. “I spent half an hour getting to and from my old job. I’m learning things now like gardening and cooking. I can now be a domestic person. I really needed to slow down.” “There’s a lot of good food here, and I’ve learned a lot from my sister-in-law, who’s a wonderful cook and baker,” she said. “I also have time to travel now. I’ve gone to Florence and Charleston, and I’ve enjoyed seeing the changes to Sumter from previous visits.” She loves the Sumter climate, she said. “I like having seasons and having time for exploring. The humidity has been hard to adjust to.” Gardner said she saves money on her wardrobe and by not having to drive to work and that cooking at home has also benefited the couple. The hardest thing now, she said, is that “I have to bill for hours, and there’s no guaranteed income.” Gardner summarized the way working from home and moving to Sumter has changed her outlook. “I was struggling with depression and needed to go somewhere to redefine myself. This has been really good for me. I have a great husband. “It’s a new chapter, a new way to do things.”
BY JULIA BECKHUSEN U.S. Census Bureau A small but steady number of American workers have more than one job, because either they need extra income or they want to gain more experience or explore different interests. A recently released U.S. Census Bureau report looks at the characteristics of workers who had multiple jobs in 2013 by sex, industry, occupation and work schedule. The Multiple Jobholders in the United States: 2013 report uses data from the 2014 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). While most of these multijob workers only had two jobs, a small percentage (6.9%) worked more than two jobs. The recently redesigned SIPP collects continuous, detailed information on up to seven jobs or businesses held during a 12-month period. This type of data allows researchers to study the dynamics of employment and provides comprehensive information on jobs held and businesses owned throughout the year. The first release of SIPP data was in 2017 and provided data collected about 2013. Data for more recent years is released annually. Even though the majority of workers held a single job in 2013, 8.3% of workers had more than one job — and most held both jobs for the entire year. Women were more likely than men to have a second job — 8.8% compared with 8.0%, respectively. While most of these multijob workers only had two jobs, a small percentage (6.9%) worked more than two jobs. Where do they find the time? Having more than one job shows a talent in time management. The greater number of jobs held, the more difficult it is to adjust work hours across jobs. Men and women with only one job were more likely to work a full-time schedule than those with multiple jobs. For example, 83.2% of men with one job worked full time while only 66.5% of men with at least two jobs worked full time at their main job. Among workers with multiple jobs, the most common schedule was to work full time at the main job and part time (less than 35 hours per week) at their other job or jobs. Women were more likely than men to work part time at all jobs, while men were more likely than women to work full time at every job. Are second jobs seasonal? We often think of workers with multiple jobs as seasonal employees who might pick up a second job at times when labor demand is high. For example, more workers are needed during the holiday shopping season and during peak vacation months when people flock to resort areas. The SIPP data allow us to look at the seasonality of jobholding and analyze when workers are most likely to hold a second job throughout the year. The number of respondents with two jobs was mostly stable throughout 2013, ranging between 7.6 million and 8.2 million. In addition, the flow-in and flow-out of multiple jobholders remained relatively low. This stability indicates that the majority of multiple jobholders held at least two jobs for the entire year with some movement in late spring and summer. For both men and women, workers with multiple jobs were concentrated in the educational services and healthcare and social assistance industry. Due to the school year calendar, changes in jobholding within this industry would have more likely happened over the summer as opposed to the holiday season. How similar were the multiple jobs? Multiple jobholders found additional work in fields they were already familiar with. Among men with multiple jobs, 73.8% had jobs in the same industry and 75.1% had jobs in the same occupation. Among women, around 66% had jobs in the same industry and 69.3% in the same occupation. Multiple jobholding women were more likely to have a variety of jobs than men. Most workers who had two jobs held both jobs for the entire year. Only small numbers started or ended their second job during 2013. Julia Beckhusen is the senior economist of the Industry and Occupation Statistics Branch in the Census Bureau’s Social, Economic, and Housing Statistics Division.
Employed – at work
High school diploma or less
Employed – on leave
38.6
Some college or associate degree Bachelor’s degree
Graduate or professional degree
Unemployed
5.1 7.4
52.0
48.9
7.5 4.8
35.7
2.3 60.9
8.2
28.6 1.5
71.2
9.2
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Note: For more information on the American Community Survey, see www.census.gov/acs Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2017 American Community Survey, 1-Year Estimates.
2019
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Labor Day in America Observed on the first Monday in September, Labor Day pays tribute to the contributions and achievements of American workers. Created by the labor movement in the late 19th century the date became a federal holiday in 1894.
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