Did you know that Labor Day started 130 years ago by two New Jersey union leaders who wanted to recognize other workers for their hard work?

It became a national holiday after the historic Pullman Strike that compelled President Grover Cleveland to sign a bill into law that would give laborers around the country the right to voice and fight for better working conditions under federal law. Through the years it has evolved, and with each generation, it represents a different effort, cause or movement for change and progress in order to fight against injustices that workers endure.

Each year, the first Monday of September is a meaningful reminder of the continued fight for fair wages and safe workplaces that can often feel like a never-ending battle.

Workers are the backbone of our society. Which is why promoting and advocating for the rights, dignity and safe environments for workers’ are basic, but necessary needs. Check out this round-up of nonprofit organizations across the United States that work on behalf of marginalized workers and work with policy- and lawmakers to create improved work conditions, respectable wages and safer work environments.

Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center (APALRC)
APALRC is a nonprofit in the Washington, D.C. area that works to ensure that Asian Americans can readily access government services and resources in the legal system to protect and enforce their rights through providing linguistically accessible and culturally appropriate legal services, such as legal education, individual representation, and systemic advocacy, to low-income Asian immigrants. Learn More

Center for Workers Rights
The Center for Workers Rights aims to empower, encourage and advocate for the greater Sacramento area’s most vulnerable workers, including undocumented immigrants, pregnant women, caregivers, people of color, victims of domestic violence and LGBTQ community members, by creating a safe working environment where workers are respected for their hard work and treated with dignity and justice. Learn More

Cooperative Richmond
Cooperative Richmond is a nonprofit one-stop-shop for incubation, education, training, mentorship and capital support that aims to build community controlled wealth through worker-owned and community-owned cooperative businesses and enterprises by and for low-income communities and communities of color. Learn More

Equity and Transformation (E.A.T.)
Equity and Transformation is a nonprofit organization founded for and by post-incarcerated individuals that works to uplift the voices and power of individuals that operate within the informal economy with a mission to build social and economic equity for Black workers engaged in the informal economy in Chicago. Learn More

Fe y Justicia Worker Center
The Faith and Justice Worker Center believes everyone should have a safe and healthy workplace. This Houston-based nonprofit aims to improve wages, benefits and working conditions for low-wage workers while organizing low-wage workers to improve conditions on the job as well as mobilizing workers along with the general and religious communities on workers’ rights issues. Learn More

Florida Workers’ Advocates
Florida Workers’ Advocates works to protect and defend Florida’s workforce by offering continuing education among lawyers representing the interests of injured and disabled workers, and providing fair and just treatment to those workers who suffer workplace injuries. Learn More

A Legacy of Equality Leadership and Organizing (LELO)
LELO is a Seattle-based nonprofit organization with a mission to empower low-income workers of color, recent immigrants and women workers to assert their rights, improve their working conditions and gain a voice in their workplaces, trade unions and communities in the U.S. and across the globe. Learn More

Mississippi Workers Center for Human Rights
Mississippi Workers Center for Human Rights is a nonprofit providing legal advocacy and training for low-wage Black workers. It exists to create better workplace conditions, ensure that all workers are treated with respect and dignity, and have equal access to good jobs and humane living conditions, regardless of their race, creed, gender or religion. Learn More

Portland Jobs with Justice
Portland Jobs with Justice works to shape the public discourse on workers’ rights and the economy, such as collective bargaining rights, employment security and a decent standard of living, and to improve the lives of those most marginalized by our economic system, such as people of color, immigrants, LGBTQ people and women. Learn More

South Asian Workers’ Center
South Asian Workers’ Center serves the South Asian immigrants and workers in the greater Boston area, and works to strengthen its community through connection, education, organizing, and employment. Learn More

South Florida AFL-CIO Community Educational & Charitable Services Inc.
South Florida AFL-CIO is an organization that aims to better the lives of its members, promote human rights and offer community services working to build stronger and healthier communities through political and legislative action, grassroots mobilization and education. It represents approximately 500 labor unions and labor councils, equaling more than a million workers and retirees made of healthcare professionals, classroom teachers, agricultural workers, hotel and restaurant employees, transportation workers, firefighters, law enforcement and correctional officers  Learn More

Southern Maine Workers’ Center
Southern Maine Workers’ Center is a member-led, grassroots organization with a mission to improve the lives, working conditions, and terms of employment for working class and poor people. Learn More

Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP)
SWOP is a national grassroots social justice network that works to end violence and stigma within the sex trade industry and promotes the safety, autonomy, and human rights of sex workers through education, community building, and advocacy. Learn More