Wednesday, September 3, 2008; A14

Regarding the Sept. 1 editorial, "Labor Day":

Labor Day began in New York City in the late 19th century in large part as a protest against low wages, poor working conditions and the suppression of union rights. But The Post's Labor Day editorial ignored this history and focused instead on the virtues and rewards of hard work. As former AFL-CIO president Lane Kirkland once remarked, "If hard work were such a wonderful thing, surely the rich would have kept it all to themselves."

SAUL SCHNIDERMAN

Takoma Park

The writer is president of the Library of Congress Professional Guild, AFSCME Local 2910.