Labor day was established essentially as a holiday to celebrate the union movement and its progress. As that movement has been shoved into a marginal position in the American economy the holiday has become just a day off for most people and more an occasion of sadness for the people who are still concerned about the future of working Americans. The discussions usually get framed in terms of Democratic vs Republican politics, but there are technological realities that have already arrived that overshadow that. Here is an example of what is about to happen to the construction industry which has long been a major job creating industry.
This edifice was built entirely by a 3D printer.
This is the construction worker of the future busily at work.
Minnesotan man builds the world's first 3D printed concrete castle in his own backyard, designing a kit that can print two-story houses
In Minnesota, contractor Andrey Rudenko is currently working on a project of gargantuan proportions that seems to be stretching and exploring the limits of 3D printing technology. Using a printer that was substantially modified and expanded, he has printed a concrete castle in his own backyard. And at 3 by 5 meters, this concrete structure is the world's first 3D printed concrete castle, and one of the largest objects that has, up till now, ever printed with 3D printing technology.
There is no real reason why this can't be used to construct more ordinary buildings with a functional design. There would still be some human labor involved in clearing a site and putting the concrete in the printer, but a huge amount of the skilled labor that has historically been part of the construction industry would be eliminated.
In the fast food industry where workers are campaigning for an adequate minimum wage there are a number of projects underway to make the production of burgers and fries a largely automated process. That industry is already well down that road.
This is the elephant in the middle of the living room that labor discussions don't want to talk about. Norbert Weiner, the pioneer of cybernetics, tried to call organized labor's attention to what was coming in the 50s. It was a theoretical possibility then. It is an actual reality now. It is not going to go away and it is difficult to see how this new technology will create new jobs for the vast majority of the present workforce. The new jobs will be for a few highly specialized designers and engineers and a limited amount of easily replaceable low skilled labor.