For more than 140 years, Labor Day has been a time to honor the contributions, achievements and sacrifices of workers in America. But this year, in the wake of growing economic inequality and a government increasingly catering to billionaires and special interests, Labor Day needs to be more than a long holiday weekend. It must be the impetus of a battle cry for workers everywhere to rise up, realize their collective strength and take their power back.

Hedge fund managers and tech moguls did not build this country or the American middle class. It was technicians, engineers, installers, teachers, caregivers, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, ironworkers, painters, laborers, operators, mechanics, drivers, farmworkers, clerks, grocers and so many others.

They went to work each day – often invisible and without fair pay, benefits, or even basic dignity. They risked their jobs, their safety and sometimes their lives to secure better working conditions we all enjoy today, like an eight-hour workday, overtime pay and the right to organize.

A sign at a May Day rally for worker and immigrant rights at the Capitol in St. Paul, Minnesota. (Michael Siluk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

I’ve spent my career enforcing labor law and fighting to protect workers’ rights. I’ve seen how powerful working people can be when they come together. The bosses and billionaires see it, too – and it terrifies them. That’s why they’re working hard in Washington to rig the system, spending millions to weaken worker protections and make it harder for workers to exercise their rights to unionize, collectively bargain and mobilize to improve their working conditions, and to enjoy their freedoms of speech, assembly, association and expression.

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Today, we’re living through one of the largest transfers of wealth in modern history. Working people and families juggle multiple jobs while corporations pop champagne over record profits and billionaires buy second yachts. Recent estimates show the Republican budget bill will only deepen this disparity, by taking away Medicaid and SNAP assistance from millions of Americans to pay for tax cuts for the super wealthy that they really don’t need and didn’t earn. They’re profiting off the backs of so many hard-working people.

This is not an accident. It’s the direct result of a system where corporations and their donors have an outsized voice and direct influence on our democracy – and politicians showering them with loopholes and special treatment. For example, President Donald Trump’s Labor Department recently announced they were rolling back 60 workplace regulations, putting workers at greater risk of being hurt while making it easier for employers to get away with it.

Similarly, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) remains without a quorum, rendering it impossible to issue rulings or make decisions that hold corporations accountable for breaking the law. My fear is that, if this continues, we’ll find ourselves living in an environment reflective of what it was like before 1935’s National Labor Relations Act: lower wages, substandard working conditions and no real channels for workers to fight back.

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Billionaires and corporations hope this will make workers feel defeated. We can’t let that happen because the truth is – workers aren’t powerless. To the contrary, they have tremendous power.

Let’s remember our history. From the Boston Tea Party to women’s suffrage to the Civil Rights Movement to the strikes at the turn of the 20th century, workers have always been a catalyst for change. Protests, boycotts, picketing, strikes, sit-ins, non-cooperation – these have never been signs of violence or dysfunction. They’re expressions of democracy.

Our present moment in history is no different – and workers must realize they have tools to begin reclaiming this country and their power to demand changes to the way they’re governed and how they live their lives.

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Support for unions has skyrocketed to its highest point in generations, especially among young people. They’re organizing at coffee shops, warehouses, grocery stores, newspapers, universities, airlines, hospitals, tech campuses and many other locations because they realize the power they hold through standing together and bargaining collectively.

They’re rightfully demanding more than just survival – they’re demanding respect. They’re standing strong in the face of union-busting campaigns, retaliatory firings and illegal threats because they know what’s at stake – not just for themselves, but for their families and their communities. There’s strength in numbers.

That’s what gives me hope because collective power is stronger than individual power. We’re seeing a groundswell of organizing in places once thought impossible to organize, especially when people feel their elected representatives aren’t listening to them. This creates enormous opportunities for unions, advocates and allies to rally around workers, listen to their challenges, and build grassroots momentum to help workers obtain a more level playing field and safer, more just and inclusive workplaces.

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In my experience, billionaires and corporations don’t provide workers with a fair and equitable workplace through an act of goodwill. They will provide it, however, when workers demand it loudly, boldly, and persistently and show their collective power. This means withholding labor, engaging in non-cooperation, organizing sit-ins and taking other forms of collective action. It’s time for workers to use this power to protest about injustices and inequities, to make sure laws are fully enforced, and to vote out elected officials for not representing their interests.

Labor Day was born out of strikes and marches from those who came before us. It exists because workers refused to be taken advantage of and exploited. That legacy is now in our hands – to honor, not just with celebration, but with resolve and action. Workers must never forget the power they have to fight together for the dignity, security and respect they’re entitled to and so richly deserve.

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