Guest: Labor Day is a tribute to those who manufacture, build and grow

When many of us were growing up, Labor Day was the traditional end of summer, and we started back to school the next day. Back in those days, political campaigns did not really begin until Labor Day. I recall President Reagan kicking off his 1980 campaign on Labor Day with the Statue of Liberty behind him and Nancy beside him. Since then, many things have changed, including a much earlier start-to-school date and year-round campaigning.

What has not changed – although it may be forgotten – is that we observe Labor Day in honor of those who labor.

Labor Day is a tribute to American labor, to those who manufacture, build and grow things that make our lives better, safer, and stronger. It is a tribute to the American factory worker, skilled craftsman, carpenter and farmer. It is a tribute to those who create wealth through their labor and to those who made the United States an economic, industrial, and military powerhouse through their labor and skill.

Wealth and value are created by manufacturing products, harvesting agriculture and extracting minerals. Without this original wealth creation, there would be no service industry nor multi-faceted economy. The essential value of labor is on full-display today following the pandemic and recent economic and political changes. Without labor, nothing gets done.

Personally, I take great pride in working for a manufacturing company. Especially one that makes products contributing to public health through clean water, to public safety through fire protection, to economic strength through energy production, and to agriculture and mining through machinery. I am proud to be part of the American iron and steel industry and to be a part of manufacturing products that built and continue to build America and the world. Our roads, bridges, buildings, automobile and aerospace industries, agriculture, military and so much more depend on manufacturing and the labor behind it.

Indeed, the American iron and steelworkers who melt, cast and process iron and steel are the backbone of local, domestic, and global economies. These workers make possible everything we enjoy.

There are approximately 14,900 iron and steel workers in Alabama at manufacturing facilities in every Congressional district, and another 76,388 indirect jobs in Alabama support those direct jobs. Alabama iron and steel employment is highly skilled, utilizing the latest manufacturing technology and innovation, and annual earnings are strong, even stronger than the national average. This critical component of our economic and national security has continued to produce throughout our difficult year of pandemic and political change.

Labor Day dates to 1887 and became a federal holiday in 1894. It grew from the American labor movement, which is alive and well today. It is driven by those who do the work, and it has led to improvements in productivity, safety and innovation that contribute to the advancement of mankind.

While happily joining in the traditional celebrations of Labor Day, I salute the virtue of American labor and Alabama workers, the virtue of hard work. Within Alabama’s iron and steel industry, every day is Labor Day.

Maury D. Gaston is Manager of Marketing Services at AMERICAN Cast Iron Pipe Company in Birmingham, Alabama, and current Chairman of the Alabama Iron & Steel Council (AISC). The AISC operates as an independent industry council of Manufacture Alabama, the state’s only trade association dedicated exclusively to manufacturers and their supplier/vendor partners. AISC member companies include AM/NS Calvert, AMERICAN Cast Iron Pipe Company, CMC Steel, McWane, Inc., Nucor Steel, Outokumpu Stainless USA, SSAB Americas, U. S. Pipe & Foundry, United States Steel, Alabama Power Company, Colburn Construction, Inc., ERP Compliant Coke, OMI-Bisco Refractories, O’Neal Manufacturing Services, Reno Refractories, Southeast Gas and Southern Alloy Corporation.