Labor Day Weekend on KCET.org: From Food to Jobs

We have arrived at Labor Day weekend, the traditional end of summer when workers get a day to call their own. It's a weekend when festivities and activities commence, but in these economically rough days, it's also a time to remember our family, friends, and neighbors who may not have the security of a job.

Here at KCET.org, a number of our editors, from food to caregiving, have taken on the holiday through their section's point of view.

Lifestyle

Labor Day Weekend Grill Round Up: From grilled shrimp cocktail to grilled cherry sours, KCET Food has several good ideas for the weekend.
End of Summer Hikes: SoCal Wanderer asked a handful of hikers what trails should be hit up before the colder weather hits and they replied with some fun choices around the state.
Museums This Week: This year the long weekend is a chance to see 11 L.A. area museum exhibits before they close, most which do so on Sunday.

Jobs Today

Caregivers: Over 40 million individuals, age 15 and older, are care providers to aging family members, according to one survey, and they do it without pay. Our caregiving show "Your Turn To Care" explores this statistic in light of Labor Day.
California's High-Unemployment County: Figures released by the state's Employment Development Department show that Imperial County in the southeastern corner of California once again has the highest unemployment rate in the state, at a shocking 29.9% -- more than three times the national unemployment rate, which rose to 8.3% in July. Read more about it here.
Prop 32: If there was one ballot measure on the November ballot related to labor, it would be Proposition 32, which is sometimes referred to as the anti-union prop. Study for the election early by reading our Prop 32 Cheat Sheet.

History, Community, and Context

Departures, KCET's interactive documentary project about L.A. neighborhoods and the shifting culture of the city at large, suggests a number of videos and articles that relate to Labor Day.

• Better Food for a Better Economy: The politics of our current food system have effectively marginalized millions of workers. On one hand, struggling small and mid-sized farms face elimination. On the other hand, labor rights for the people that grow, sell, cook and serve our food are often abused and ignored.
• When This Law Ended, What Happened to Mexican Immigration? In this edition of Laws that Shaped L.A., a weekly blog post series, the Bracero Program is examined.
• Chinese Migration and Labor Conditions: As part of Departures: Chinatown, this slideshow looks at the sojourners, the first immigrants to California in the mid-1800s who sought "Gold Mountain," but instead found themselves enduring hostility and extreme hardship while performing the difficult, dangerous labor of railroad construction.
• Loyalty to Labor -- Brief History of May Day in Los Angeles: Labor Day and May Day (also known as International Workers Day) are essentially one and the same, but the latter, however, is rooted in left-wing politics and has been largely omitted from our history.