It’s the early hours of Labor Day morning as I write this. My coffee is warm, the sky is still dark, and in a little while I’ll grab my keys, drive across town, and pick up my best friend for work. She’s transgender, like me, and she loves her career, yet because of the industry she’s in, she doesn’t get the day off. Her situation is hardly unique. Across the United States, millions of people, nurses, service workers, retail employees, hospitality staff, and countless others, will clock in today, even though it’s supposed to be the holiday that celebrates them.
That simple fact is what inspired me to write this article. Labor Day, for all its history and symbolism, has always been more complicated than just a day off with cookouts, sales, and parades. For transgender people, whose relationship with labor has been shaped by discrimination, resilience, and the pursuit of dignity in work, Labor Day offers a moment to reflect: Where do we stand in the labor movement? How do our struggles connect to the broader fight for workers’ rights? And what still needs to change?
The Origins of Labor Day
Labor Day became a federal holiday in 1894 after decades of worker unrest. Born out of the labor movement of the late 19th century, the holiday was intended to honor the social and economic achievements of American workers. It recognized not only the role of labor in building the nation but also the sacrifices made to secure safer working conditions, reasonable hours, and fair wages.
For many, Labor Day marks the symbolic end of summer, with barbecues, mattress sales, and back-to-school prep. But at its heart, it is meant to celebrate working people and remind us that labor rights were won through collective struggle. Union fights, strikes, and advocacy secured things like the eight-hour workday, weekends off, and workplace safety standards. These victories weren’t handed down; they were fought for.
That history is deeply relevant to transgender people, who have had to fight, and continue fighting, for recognition and rights in the workplace.
Work and the Transgender Experience
While the broader workforce gained protections through union organizing and labor law, transgender workers were largely left behind for most of modern history. Employment protections based on gender identity are still a relatively new development in the U.S. Even today, discrimination persists at alarming rates.
- Job discrimination is widespread. According to the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, the largest survey of transgender people to date, 30% of respondents reported being fired, denied a promotion, or experiencing mistreatment in the workplace due to their gender identity.
- Unemployment and underemployment remain high. The unemployment rate among transgender people was three times the national average at the time of the survey. Many are forced into unstable, unsafe, or exploitative jobs simply to survive.
- Workplace harassment is common. Transgender employees report misgendering, verbal abuse, exclusion from opportunities, and sometimes even physical threats in their workplaces.
The legacy of labor rights in America should include us, yet transgender people have often been treated as disposable labor, expected to do the work but denied the respect, protections, and recognition that other workers take for granted.
The Intersection of Labor Rights and Trans Rights
Labor Day provides an opportunity to think about how these struggles overlap. At their core, both the labor movement and the transgender rights movement are about dignity: the right to be seen, respected, and valued as human beings.
- The Fight for Fair Wages: Just as the labor movement fought for the minimum wage and wage equality, transgender workers continue to face pay gaps. Studies consistently show that transgender people, particularly transgender women of color, earn significantly less than their cisgender peers. This wage gap isn’t about qualifications; it’s about bias.
- Workplace Safety: Early labor activists fought for safer conditions in mines, factories, and railroads. For transgender workers, “safety” often means protection from harassment, assault, or being outed against one’s will. Feeling unsafe at work is not a relic of the past; it’s a present reality for many trans people.
- The Right to Organize and Belong: Unions historically provided workers with power through collective bargaining. Yet transgender workers have often been left out of union protections or treated as an afterthought. Today, some unions are finally stepping up, explicitly including transgender protections in contracts and pushing for inclusive healthcare benefits. But it’s not universal.
- Healthcare as a Labor Issue: The labor movement helped secure employer-based health insurance in the mid-20th century. For transgender workers, this intersects directly with the fight for gender-affirming care. Coverage is inconsistent, contested, and often weaponized by employers who want to cut costs. Access to healthcare, whether it’s hormones, surgery, or mental health support, is a workplace issue because without it, many transgender people can’t fully participate in the workforce.
Who Gets the Day Off?
Labor Day was supposed to honor workers, yet not all workers are treated equally. Salaried professionals often get the day off; many hourly workers do not. The irony is that the holiday meant to celebrate labor disproportionately excludes those in service jobs, many of whom are transgender.
Consider:
- Transgender people are overrepresented in service industries such as food service, retail, hospitality, and caregiving.
- These industries are the least likely to provide holidays off, paid leave, or comprehensive benefits.
- For many transgender workers, Labor Day isn’t a holiday; it’s just another Monday on the clock.
That’s where my best friend comes in. She loves her job, and I’m proud of her dedication. But the fact that she doesn’t get Labor Day off makes me pause. It’s a reminder of how unevenly labor rights are applied and how important it is to advocate for a more inclusive vision of workers’ rights.
Labor Day as a Moment of Reflection for Transgender Workers
Labor Day should be more than a barbecue and a clearance sale. It should be a time to ask: How do we value work? Who gets to rest? Who gets celebrated, and who gets overlooked?
For transgender workers, these questions are not abstract; they’re lived reality. Our labor often goes unrecognized, whether it’s in the workplace, in activism, or in the unpaid emotional labor we perform for others.
Here are some ways we might reframe Labor Day through a transgender lens:
- Celebrating Transgender Labor
Recognize the contributions transgender people make across every industry, from healthcare to education and from art to technology. We are workers, leaders, and creators whose labor is often invisible. - Honoring Transgender Activism as Labor
Activism itself is work. From Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson fighting for queer and trans rights in the 1970s to modern organizers challenging anti-trans legislation, the fight for equality is itself a form of labor. - Acknowledging Emotional and Survival Labor
Many transgender people perform unpaid labor just to survive, navigating hostile workplaces, educating colleagues, or fighting for basic respect. This, too, deserves recognition.
Transgender People and the Future of Work
Looking ahead, the labor movement is shifting again. Gig work, remote work, and automation are changing what it means to “go to work.” For transgender people, this presents both challenges and opportunities.
- The Gig Economy: Many trans workers turn to gig work, such as rideshare driving, food delivery, or freelancing, as a way to avoid discrimination in traditional workplaces. But these jobs lack stability, benefits, and protections.
- Remote Work: For some, remote work has been a lifeline, allowing transgender people to avoid hostile environments. But it can also mean isolation and lack of visibility.
- Unionization Resurgence: From Starbucks baristas to Amazon warehouse workers, a new wave of union activism is growing. Transgender workers have an opportunity to be at the forefront, demanding that inclusivity be built into the next chapter of labor rights.
Labor Day should be a reminder that the fight isn’t over. Just as workers once fought for the eight-hour workday, today we must fight for a workplace where everyone, including transgender people, has dignity, safety, and fair compensation.
Solidarity Across Movements
One of the most powerful lessons of Labor Day is that progress happens when workers stand together. Transgender people are part of the working class, and our struggles are not separate from the broader labor movement.
- Black, immigrant, disabled, and queer workers all face unique challenges, but they are united by the need for fair treatment at work.
- Solidarity means recognizing that an injury to one is an injury to all. When transgender workers are harassed, underpaid, or excluded from benefits, the labor movement loses strength.
- Inclusive unions and organizations that fight for all workers, not just the majority, carry the true spirit of Labor Day.
A Personal Reflection
As I sip the last of my coffee and glance at the clock, it’s almost time to leave and pick up my best friend. She’ll spend the day working while many others rest. That fact, to me, is what makes this article matter. Labor Day is supposed to honor workers like her, but too often, it leaves people like us behind.
Transgender people have always worked. We have always contributed. And we have always fought to be seen, not just as individuals, but as part of the collective labor that keeps this country moving.
So today, while you’re grilling burgers, shopping sales, or simply enjoying a quiet day off, I hope you’ll also take a moment to honor transgender workers. Think about the friend who still has to clock in. Think about the healthcare worker on the night shift, the retail clerk running a register, and the gig worker making deliveries. Think about the countless transgender people who labor not just for a paycheck but for dignity in a world that too often denies it.
That’s the heart of Labor Day. Not just rest, not just recognition, but solidarity.
The Bottom Line
Labor Day began as a radical act, a demand that workers be respected. Over time, it became domesticated into a holiday of leisure and commerce. But its original spirit still matters, especially to communities like ours.
For transgender people, Labor Day is a chance to:
- Celebrate our labor and contributions.
- Reflect on the inequities that persist in our workplaces.
- Commit to solidarity with other marginalized workers.
- Push for a future where everyone’s work, and everyone’s humanity, is respected.
As I head out the door this morning to give my friend a ride, I carry that hope with me. The labor movement made Labor Day possible, but it is up to us to make it meaningful. For the transgender community, that means reminding the world: We work. We contribute. We belong.
