The Cries Of The Workers Reach The Ears Of God

Today marks the unofficial “end” to summer when a lot of people transition back to school-year schedules and get back into the routines of life.

It is known as Labor Day and was originally developed as a way to honor American workers.

Up until the late 1880’s, working conditions in the United States were dangerous for a lot of people – especially those who worked in industrial settings. They worked long days, had little access to fresh air, almost no breaks and many people got injured or disabled on the job. Furthermore, many children – some as young as 5 years old – were working in these conditions to try to help their families eke out an existence.

The first “Labor Day” happened in 1882 in New York City and was organized by the Central Labor Union to celebrate the skill and achievements of workers and to give workers a chance to be with their families.  It was not until the late 1880’s that state governments enacted legislation to make this an official holiday, and from 1894 onward it became a national holiday.

The rights of laborers did not come easily, however. They were, in fact, resisted (at times, violently) by those who owned the factories (sometimes called the ‘ruling class’). It took years of strikes and some violent clashes with police across this country before workers were able to secure some basic protections. Labor unions formed to try to protect and advocate for workers and, in time, were able to secure an 8-hour day, weekends off, a minimum wage, safety regulations, workers compensation and child labor laws (to name a few of the gains).

The Judeo-Christian tradition is clear when it comes to labor practices. In fact, the themes of work, labor and fair treatment of workers show up about 800 times in our scriptural tradition – especially in the prophetic literature.  Built into our tradition is a focus on advocating on behalf of people to earn a fair wage, people having time for rest (Sabbath time) and workers being respected.

For example, check out this sampling from our scriptures:

Leviticus 19:13

You shall not exploit your neighbor. You shall not commit robbery. You shall not withhold overnight the wages of your laborer.

Deuteronomy 24: 14 – 15

You shall not exploit a poor and needy hired servant, whether one of your own kindred or one of the resident aliens who live in your land, within your gates.  On each day you shall pay the servant’s wages before the sun goes down, since the servant is poor and is counting on them. Otherwise the servant will cry to the LORD against you, and you will be held guilty.

James 5:4

Behold, the wages you withheld from the workers who harvested your fields are crying aloud, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.

What comes up in you when you read them?

It’s no secret that so many workers in our country are not faring well these days (especially low-wage workers). While our current administration says that it is “restoring prosperity” to our economy and “prioritizing American workers,” so many other sources would say the opposite.

Workers at the low end of the spectrum do not get paid enough to make ends meet. In fact, our federal minimum wage has remained at $7.25 since 2015 (thankfully NY passed a minimum wage of $16/hr). And in 2025 when we saw income assistance, child care subsidies, Medicaid and food assistance programs gutted, we had a national increase in the number of millionaires (and billionaires) by 441,000 (that’s 1200 per day)!

If we were together right now, I’d ask you, “Who are the most vulnerable workers in our midst?” I wonder who you’d name or which jobs would come to mind.

Many of these people are what we now call “essential workers” – people who are providing vital services related to the food we eat, the health care we receive and the social infrastructure that we live in. And yet so many of these jobs pay poverty-level wages and come with few benefits. A majority of these workers are women and a majority are people of color. So when we talk about “low wage workers,” we’re talking about specific groups of people who have historically been targeted in our society, and so many of them are under constant threat of one kind or another.

A quote you may have heard before is, “The measure of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable members.” It’s uncertain who first said it, but it speaks volumes. And if we were to use this to assess the United States right now, we’re not measuring up well.

As part of our faith response, we can work to keep advocating on behalf of workers and worker rights. While it’s beyond the scope of this blog to get too deep into the conversation, there are laws and policies that we can advocate for that will help. 

Another place that we can impact low-wage workers is through our spending choices. Do we shop at places that treat their employees well and pay living wages? Do we support unions and/or worker cooperatives with our purchases? Do we shop local and try to buy from ethical or fair-trade brands? Do we tip as generously as we can for servers and delivery staff?

If we own a business or are in a management role, we can reflect on how our workers are treated and make positive changes that directly impact our employees. 

These are just some of the questions that we can take up when we think about workers on this Labor Day. And if you are enjoying a paid “day off” like I am enjoying today, we have many workers and unions who have gone before us to thank for this! And like so many other things these days, many of the rights and freedoms that people fought so hard to enact are getting rolled back. Workers’ rights are some of those rights.

In the final speech he gave before he was gunned down the next day, Martin Luther King Jr. was addressing a crowd in Memphis, TN. He was back in Memphis to support striking sanitation workers who faced hazardous work conditions and poverty-level wages. He knew that it was risky to go there and was urged not to by some close members of his team. But he went anyway.

In his famous “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech, he urged his listeners – and especially anyone who was NOT a sanitation worker – to get involved. King used the story of the Good Samaritan to make his point. He said that the Good Samaritan did not just ask, “What will happen to me if I get involved?” The Good Samaritan asked, “What will happen to them if I don’t get involved?”

Our tradition is clear, the cries of the workers reach the ears of God. The question is if they will reach our ears and hearts as well.

Note: Just the other day, I met with Brother Peter and he had a small bouquet of flowers. He said, “I am taking these to the grave of Ida Braiman.” I said, “Who’s that?” He said, “A local labor martyr…” He gave me info on Ida. She was a Ukrainian immigrant who was 17 when she came to the United States and worked in local garment factories. She was part of a large garment workers strike in 1913 and was killed when someone fired a gun into the crowd. She is a local martyr for the labor movement and her grave is at the Britton Road Cemetery in Rochester. Thank you for the information, Br. Peter! And thank you for your witness, Ida!