An American dream: Skilled trades can provide a dignified path to the middle class 

The summer of 1894, when Labor Day was declared a national holiday, was a season of protest, not leisure, for the American labor movement.  

The Pullman Strike, a massive strike and boycott organized by Pullman rail-workers, brought rail traffic to a halt throughout the Midwest. George Pullman, the railcar company’s president, triggered the strike by lowering wages but refusing to lower rents in the company town. Faced with dire living conditions and a 16-hour workday, a delegation of railcar workers voted to strike...