By Jennifer McMahon, Director of Human Resources

While we think of Labor Day as the end of summer, a time to snag some great sales, and a nice long weekend for a family barbecue, it’s important to remember that it serves to honor something significant in America’s heritage. According to the History Channel, Labor Day is a federal holiday that celebrates the history of the American labor movement and the contributions it made through labor laws that protect workers. We can thank the labor movement for better wages, reasonable working hours, health benefits, and aid to workers injured on the job. We all benefit from these efforts as employees whether we are represented by a union or not.

The City of St. Charles has five labor unions. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers represents our Linemen who work long and hard to ensure you have electricity coming to your homes and businesses. The Teamsters represent our Public Works and Building and Code employees who make sure your roads and buildings are safe, who maintain clean drinking water, and who keep our vehicles and equipment in good working order. Our firefighters, who are at your service to suppress fires, perform rescues, or administer advanced life support, are represented by the International Association of Fire Fighters. Finally, our police officers and police sergeants are represented by different chapters of the Metropolitan Alliance of Police. St. Charles’ police officers and sergeants work 24/7 to ensure you are safe.

The City enjoys a good working relationship with all of its unions and is proud of the hard work our employee-union members perform for the City. We celebrate Labor Day this weekend with a nod of gratitude to all of the City’s hardworking employees. Public service is a proud calling and more than 300 union and non-union employees have answered that call here at the City of St. Charles. Enjoy your long weekend!