Labor Day celebrates American working men and women. It’s a way to recognize the contributions made by those who show up, day after day, at their jobs.

The holiday traces its roots to the early days of organized labor in American history, when workers often marched at the front of reform movements many take for granted in today’s workplaces — such as unified wages and shorter work days.

Labor Day celebrates the workers whose ideas spark innovations to make our lives easier and it celebrates those workers who step out on their own to create new businesses. It’s a day to celebrate the millions of American workers whose commitment to excellence and a decent standard of living make so many of today’s comforts possible.

For every innovation and great idea, it took people willing to do the hard work to make it become a reality. For every new restaurant, office complex or house in Southwest Louisiana, there’s a team of folks willing to take on the challenge of welding, sawing, pouring and constructing – and usually outside in 97-degree heat with high humidity.

In a proclamation issued Friday, President Donald Trump said, “On Labor Day, we celebrate the American worker: the bulwark of our national prosperity and the cornerstone of our national greatness.”

Today we tip our hats and offer our thanks to those men and women and the innovation and technology they created.

When you break out the grill today or launch the boat, let’s remember the hands that manufactured the products we’re using. Let’s remember to thank the “labor” in Labor Day.

Labor Day