There are many reasons to honor unions on Labor Day. Despite their declining membership and arguments among themselvers over organized labor's future direction, they remain extraordinarily important to all working people, union and non-union members alike. Paid holidays such as Labor Day, paid vacations, the eight-hour workday and 40-hour workweek, overtime pay, empl;oyer-financed pensions, medical care and other fringe benefits, health and safety standards, the right to bargain collectively with employers, a truly effective voice in politics -- working people owe all that, and more, to the labor movement.