Ken Davis : Today , labor under fire . But war for workers ' rights was long , deadly struggle . Their sharp anti-union rhetoric has increasingly found receptive listeners who have been convinced that `` spoiled '' unions and public employees -- the people who fight our fires , teach our children and pick up our garbage -- are at fault for our budgetary woes and the sorry state of the economy . There was child labor , 12-hour days , 6-day weeks , low wages , no sick days , holidays . The IWW's slogan " War is Peace! " Labor Day born in 1894 , he says , but reform did n't come till FDR 's fair labor laws .
Ken Davis : Today , labor under fire . But war for workers ' rights was long , deadly struggle . There was child labor , 12-hour days , 6-day weeks , low wages , no sick days , holidays . The IWW's slogan " War is Peace! " Labor Day born in 1894 , he says , but reform did n't come till FDR 's fair labor laws .