Labor Day

By Lorrie Ross

Staff Writer

For many Americans, the first Monday in September is a day away from work. With kids out of school, it can be a fun time on Lake Chatuge or cooking out with friends. Yet Labor Day began as a way to celebrate the contributions of American laborers.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor website: www.dol.gov, Labor Day began in the late nineteenth century, when labor activists advocated for a federal holiday to recognize American workers, along with their innovations and contributions to the country.

Always observed on the first Monday in September, Labor Day was celebrated in several cities and states prior to becoming a federal holiday. In 1887, Oregon was the first state to pass a law recognizing Labor Day, even though New York introduced the first state bill.

Along with those two states, three others officially declared a Labor Day holiday that year. Those were Colorado, Massachusetts and New Jersey.

By 1894, more than 30 states had adopted the Labor Day holiday. On June 28, 1894 Congress passed an act calling the first Monday in September a legal holiday.

So who are some of the workers who keep Clay County going at some of the county’s largest employers? Clay County Schools has 205 people employed among the staff at all the schools. They drive the buses and keep them running, teach and coach students, clean and maintain the buildings and all of the important roles needed to educate young people.

Ingles of Hayesville has 160 employees stocking the shelves, cutting meat, decorating cupcakes, sweeping floors and more.

Clay County government seems to be the largest employer with 211 people in many different departments. They have 186 full-time employees and 25 part-time, according to County Manager Debbie Mauney. The Department of Social Services employs the largest number of county employees with 28 full-timers and one part-timer. Next is EMS with 24, including 18 full-time workers; 20 at the Clay County Health Department, all of whom are full-time; and 17 full-time and two part-time employees work for the Clay County Sheriff’s Office. In addition, the jail has 15 full-time employees.

Other county divisions include Clay County Transportation and Clay County Telecommunications each with 13 employees. There are 11 full-time folks in transportation and nine in telecommunications. Five part-time and three full-time people work at the recreation department, while the governing body and the tax office each have six employees, all full-time. Water and sewer has five full-time staff and five county departments each have four people running things. Those are the dental clinic, the finance office, investigators, the transfer station and the senior center.

Three employees each work in the building department, Board of Elections and the Register of Deeds office. There are also three school resource officers and three community paramedics. E-911 and the Soil and Water department each have two full-time staff. Animal control, human resources and veteran’s services are all run by one person, with the veteran’s services representative only working part-time. There are some open positions within the county.

As another large employer in Clay County, Drake Enterprises has more than 600 people working for them. Several dozen of them work in Clay County, while others work in many offices across the southeast. Some employees work in more than one location.

These bigger businesses play an important part in Clay County. However, there are many small enterprises here which provide the county’s residents with their wants and needs. To all of those people working as mechanics, attorneys, cooks and restaurant servers, clinical staff, store clerks, postal carriers and countless other occupations, we appreciate you and your efforts.