[ti:Labor Day 2020 Is Unlike Any Other+++2020年美国不同寻常的劳动节] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]September 7 is Labor Day in the United States. [00:04.76]The national holiday began more than 100 years ago [00:09.44]to honor low-paid factory workers. [00:13.68]Labor Day unofficially marks the end of summer. [00:18.12]In any other year, students would be getting ready to go back to school. [00:23.52]Many Americans would celebrate the day [00:26.88]with an outdoor barbecue with family and friends. [00:31.20]Others would use the long weekend [00:34.08]to take their last vacation of the summer, before hot days turn cooler. [00:40.68]But 2020 is not any other year. [00:44.24]Students in many parts of the country will be going back to school online [00:49.76]for all or part of the autumn term. [00:53.04]Health officials in several states [00:55.60]are advising against social gatherings ahead of the holiday weekend. [01:00.56]And travel -- especially air travel -- has been down sharply all summer. [01:07.24]Health officials have reason to be worried. [01:11.04]Several parts of the country saw increases in COVID-19 cases [01:16.56]following the other two major holidays this summer: [01:20.40]Memorial Day and Independence Day. [01:23.32]The increases in many places were linked to family gatherings. [01:29.84]Labor Day started with a struggle. [01:32.84]On May 1, 1889, workers demonstrated on the streets of Paris, France. [01:40.40]International Labor Day was born. [01:43.96]Most industrialized countries in the world [01:47.40]-- except the United States and Canada -- celebrate Labor Day on the first of May. [01:53.88]The first American Labor Day celebration [01:57.44]was held on September 5, 1882, in New York City. [02:03.96]About 10,000 workers marched through the streets [02:07.96]to show the strength of labor organizations. [02:12.16]For many years after that, American workers used the first Monday in September [02:18.72]to demand better working conditions and pay. [02:23.00]Music was a part of many of those marches. [02:26.44]Labor songs traditionally tell stories of conflict and hopes for a better life. [02:33.36]Here is Pete Seeger's "We Shall Not Be Moved." [02:58.08]Many classic American labor songs came from workers in the coal mines of the South. [03:04.92]Mine owners bitterly opposed workers' unions. [03:09.04]In Kentucky, company police searched for union leaders. [03:13.84]They waited outside a worker's home for several days to block him from organizing. [03:21.32]The coal miner's wife, Florence Reece, stayed inside with her children. [03:27.16]She wrote this song, "Which Side Are You On?" [03:31.60]Here is Natalie Merchant singing the song. [03:56.16]Another American labor song is called "Bread and Roses." [04:00.64]It is based on a poem by James Oppenheim, published in December of 1911. [04:08.24]The poem speaks about the women's labor movement. [04:12.36]At that time, conditions in factories, where many women worked, were horrible. [04:18.84]A fire at a clothing factory in New York killed 146 people. [04:25.92]Most of the victims were immigrant women. [04:30.08]A month after Oppenheim's poem was published, [04:33.76]textile workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts went on strike. [04:39.88]Their protest won them higher pay and better working conditions. [04:45.36]Oppenheim's poem gained more attention. [04:50.00]Here is Judy Collins singing "Bread and Roses." [05:14.12]Even though Labor Day demonstrations are not as common in the U.S. today, [05:19.96]the song reminds us to celebrate the effort and love [05:24.24]that many people give to their work. [05:29.72]I'm Ashley Thompson. [05:31.00]Here is Judy Collins singing "Bread and Roses."