WINOOSKI – On Monday, hundreds of thousands of Vermonters will follow the example that the federal government has set for much of recent history and stop working entirely. Labor Day was instituted by President Grover Cleveland in 1894 as a half-assed apology for sending in troops to attack striking factory workers in Chicago, and the United States Congress has hardly worked a day since.
Many Vermonters admit that while they are normally hard workers, industrious innovators, compassionate and just citizens, and overall productive members of society, it is important to take a break from that heavy burden once a year and spend a day getting nothing done, as the legislative branch of the U.S. government models for them on a regular basis.
“I don’t think we can take it quite to their level,” says Winooski resident Len Gwidd, “not in one day, that’s for sure. I mean, even when they’re at work they don’t do anything! That’s dedication to the American worker.”
Vermonters will be back to work on Tuesday, while Congress typically celebrates Labor Day during the last week of February, two weeks in April, the last week of May, the first week of July, all of August, the second week of October, the last week of November, and second half of December, and any time they fail to raise the debt ceiling.
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