It’s Labor Day, a time to recognize the contributions of workers in the broader economy, a key linchpin for bolstering quality of life across the United States.
The holiday also has become the official bookend to summer, a last chance for families to enjoy time together, often on vacation.
But when Congress set the holiday in 1894, national leaders were reacting to a series of strikes and job protests, a time where the hard edge of the industrial revolution was triggering intense questioning from workers about sharing the profits of capitalism.
Orange County witnessed similar questioning in 1936 with hundreds of Mexican citrus workers striking, and many getting arrested, during the historic confrontation between the county sheriff, labor activists and citrus growers.
The weekend. The eight-hour workday. Safe working conditions. Sick pay. Pensions. Unions. Health care.
Family vacations.
These kinds of benefits all stem from that period of intense labor unrest across America.
Yet the battle to keep them continues.
Here in Orange County, workers have in recent years seen historic confrontations with fights for better wages and health care at local hotels, theme parks, grocery markets, hospitals and city halls.
These battles come as the gap between CEO and worker pay is the biggest it’s ever been.
A recent study found that between 2019 and 2024, CEOs at some of the lowest paying companies for workers saw their compensation more than double while worker wages stagnated.
That theme has played out locally in recent years across some of the region’s top employers with worker groups threatening strikes and in some cases hitting the streets to protest stale wages and benefits as well as the gap between bosses and workers.
“Over the past several years, workers in Orange County have seen big wins and have also been reminded of the hurdles faced by workers just to keep up,” said Tim Steed, assistant general manager at the Orange County Employees Association.
“Worker power builds through small actions—petitions, picket lines, city council speeches, or strikes,” Steed told me,”but it’s no small thing.”
Just this past week, nearly two dozen trade unions gathered at Knott’s Berry Farm – once a family owned business, but now part of the Six Flags theme park corporate family – to announce a historic coalition with the aim of representing every single worker at the theme park.
“Knott Without Us,” was the slogan bringing all these groups together under the Orange County Labor Federation.
“We know it develops better outcomes for them,” said Buena Park City Councilman Connor Traut, who is also running for county supervisor.
“It’s the power of collective bargaining, the power of people working together,” Traut said in an interview at the labor coalition rally in front of Knott’s.
Just this May, Kaiser mental health professionals across Southern California – represented by the National Union of Healthcare Workers – ratified a four-year contract after a historic, 196-day strike secured wage gains, patient protections and a pension plan.
A month earlier in April, hundreds of unionized workers at UC Irvine medical centers – represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and University Professional and Technical Employees – staged a one-day strike, joining thousands of others across other campuses, to protest increasing health care costs and unfair bargaining tactics.
Last year, Disney workers geared up for a confrontation when labor groups threatened to strike as they pushed for better pay, seniority-based raises, better safety protocols and a more flexible attendance policy.
[Read: Disneyland Workers May Soon Strike at ‘The Happiest Place on Earth’]
Yet a strike at “the Happiest Place on Earth” was avoided when members of the Master Services Council – a coalition of four unions representing 14,000 Disney workers – voted to approve a new three-year contract.
The agreement came on the heels of a historic city council approval of Disney Forward, that’s estimated to bring nearly $2 billion to Anaheim over the next decade – on par, officials said, with when Walt Disney himself showed up in Anaheim in the 1950s.
[Read: Anaheim Approves $2 Billion Disneyland Forward Expansion]
While the three-year contract with Disney was hailed by local labor leaders, it seems weak compared to what similar workers get at parks in Europe.
[Read: Comparing Disneyland Labor Battles; Did Unions Cut a Good Deal in Anaheim?]
The year before the Disney strike threats, local hotel workers did go on strike at 18 hotels across the region.
[Read: Southern California Hotel Workers Go on Strike For Better Pay]
Just two days after contracts expired, workers walked out as they demanded $5 more an hour to help cover rising housing costs, kicking off the largest hotel strike in history.
“I couldn’t feel prouder,” said Ada Briceño, co-president of Unite Here 11, of the historic strike and the gains it produced.
Briceño, who is also running for state assembly this year, said the recent labor actions around Orange County show the importance of standing up against what she called corporate pushbacks on working families.
“We know we have a role to play,” said Briceño of the labor movement, adding “I’m ready to fight.”
That vibe was present this summer as grocery workers geared up for a confrontation.
Just more than 20 years after the historic grocery strike in Southern California, earlier this summer, nearly 50,000 Southern California grocery workers voted to authorize a strike against Albertsons, Vons and Ralphs after months of what union officials say are unfair labor practices during contract negotiations.
[Read: Grocery Workers Across Southern California Prepared to Strike]
Later, about 12,000 Stater Bros. workers across Southern California voted to authorize an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike, accusing the company of illegally surveilling, interrogating, and targeting union members, according to a news release on July 25.
It was the first time Stater Bros employees voted to authorize a strike. When the historic grocery strikes happened 20 years ago, Stater Bros. was the only unionized Southern California grocery chain that didn’t see its workers strike.
[Read: Grocery Union Gears Up For Potential Strike Against Stater Bros.]
This year, grocery store strikes were averted after workers and company officials reached agreement.
Local public sector workers also have seen recent contract talks get ugly.
Just a day before this month’s Knott’s labor announcement, public workers with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees gathered in Anaheim to protest the recent passage of federal legislation – called the Big Beautiful Bill – that cut back public funding from local agencies and programs.
This month, state mediators had to step into a tense labor negotiations stand off between Garden Grove City Council members and their public works crews, who are pushing for raises to help cushion the impact of inflation and rising healthcare costs.
This year could also see tension at the county government, as most county labor unions – including the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs – have their contracts up for renewal.