Labor Day is or should be of much importance to all of us, employers and employees alike. Many Americans work from the age of 16 until they reach age 65 or even older.

You could argue then, that most of our life is consumed with working for wages. The object of all that work and its wages is, simply put, a means for purchasing the necessities of life.

In addition to being wage-earning workers, we are all also paycheck-spending consumers. What kind of a job is our nation doing on consumer protections for us when we spend those paychecks on our needs?

One of our major (enjoying most-favored-nation trading status) free-trade partners has flooded America with products that include poisoned pet foods, lead-painted toys, defective auto tires, faulty test strips for diabetics’ blood sugar levels and toothpaste made with antifreeze chemicals. It seems spending your wages now comes with serious dangers when you go shopping at your favorite store.

So much for one of the benefits of free trade. It now seems to come with a very high price. Sometimes it comes at the expense of your very health and safety.

Americans are told by their employers to “work smart and work productively.”

It is true that a product or public service must be viewed by the consumer of such as being of value or be of inherent public need to continue to be capable of remaining as a source of employment. The record shows that we Americans as employers and employees create safe and healthy products and professionally provided public services when we are given the opportunity to work.

It is impossible for American workers to compete with the millions of low-wage workers who labor without health care insurance across the globe. Perhaps the increased profits and lower service costs from this free trade system actually come at too high a price for us in the final analysis?

While one can’t earn money without work, an owner or manager can’t earn a profit or work in a managerial position without a successful partnership with workers.

Unions have long maintained good labor/management committees and have been valued partners in this pursuit of profits and providing professional public services.

Let us all hope that adequate jobs paying a living wage coupled with providing adequate environmental protections remains high on our nation’s priority list, not as items that are seen to interfere with greedy schemes to maximize profits at all costs.

That will be a Labor Day to remember! Please work safe, and be healthy as you enjoy your holiday this year. And remember, the public is invited to celebrate Labor Day on the North Side of La Crosse and at Copeland Park.

Terry Hicks is president of the Western Wisconsin AFL-CIO.