Is there any other holiday that’s easier for all Americans to rally around? Come on. We all work. At least most of us work, or did work at some time in our lives. But today’s newspapers, both local and national, had little to say about the parades and celebrations that occurred yesterday. We ate our hotdogs and potato salad, but for the most part, the workers of America didn’t take to the streets holding posters and chanting words of encouragement for the working stiff.

I suppose you’re all doing okay. Your paycheck is fat enough. Your health insurance covers all your medical problems with little hassle. Your hours and workloads are reasonable. You’ve got your retirement plan sewed up and can expect a hefty pension to make your aging years comfortable.

Or maybe not. If you believe the numbers, workers today are actually losing a lot of ground when it comes to their paychecks, benefits and prospects for retirement.

Let’s look at the history of Labor Day. How did it all start in the first place?

The U.S. Department of Labor says: “Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.”

PBS’ NewsHour, which I trust for most of my news, says: “The observance of Labor Day began over 100 years ago. Conceived by America’s labor unions as a testament to their cause, the legislation sanctioning the holiday was shepherded through Congress amid labor unrest and signed by President Grover Cleveland as a reluctant election-year compromise.”

A workforce in unrest was given a holiday. Well, it was given a bit more than that of course. It was given a boost to its validity, a boost to the demands of working stiffs throughout the United States.

So what could workers get today? Another day off wouldn’t be bad but it probably will do little to change many of the negatives things that have transpired in recent years. The gap between employee salaries and those of top executives is widening, and while companies make bigger profits, workers are getting a smaller share. “In no other recovery from a post-World War II recession did corporate profits ever account for as much as 20 percent of the growth in national income and at no time did corporate profits ever increase by a greater amount than labor compensation,” according to a study by the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University.

Is this a momentary glitch in the work-time continuum, or will this contribute to a growing gap between the rich and the not so rich?

Will a president, many years from now, need to proclaim another day for workers as he or she faces reelection? (FYI, Grover was not reelected.)

It’s one of those abyss workdays, when you don’t really get anything done but you’re stuck at your desk anyway. It’s the day before the Labor Day holiday and about 99 percent of workers have already punched out…at least in their minds. A friend of mine who’s a high-powered attorney in Boston just IMed me that she brought her son to work today. I asked her, “what if you get a call on a high-powered case?”. She said, “I already did. It went OK. He’s bored,” she added about her son. It’s the type of day few people take seriously. But I’ve got lots of work to do. All the calls I’ve made today for a story I’m working on have not been returned. It seems people are cleaning their desks, or starting martini lunches at 10:30 a.m., or hanging with their sons. My daughter, for some unknown reasons, did not have school today. It’s the kind of day that takes working parents by surprise. Usually there are parents who are aware of the day off, but for some reason I’m always the last to know. I guess it was on the holiday calendar that the school gave us. But that came home with 40 other pieces of paper and I had barely enough time to cook dinner that night. As if they know there are many of us bewildered parents out there, the school sent home a little piece of paper Thursday telling us there would be no school Friday and Monday…meaning, “dummy, don’t take your kid to the bus stop Friday morning because no one will be there.” So the scramble began, Thursday night. Where would the kids go? (I also have a 4-year-old son whose daycare hasn’t even opened yet) Thank goodness for my in-laws who came through in a pinch and agreed to watch the kiddies.