It’s a tough time to celebrate the American worker. This coming Monday is set to mark the third consecutive Labor Day with an unemployment rate around 9% and 14 million Americans looking for work. The median unemployed worker has been jobless for six months. The past year has been especially tumultuous for the labor movement, from Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s defanging of his state’s public-sector union to the recent strike by 45,000 Verizon that ended with a whimper instead of a bang. Even leaders in reliably Democratic states like California, Connecticut, and New York are wresting concessions from government employees in the face of local budget deficits for the foreseeable future.

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More Americans filed for unemployment claims last week, as a dispute between Verizon Communications and its union employees caused thousands of workers to seek jobless benefits.

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Hundreds of thousands of postal workers could soon lose their jobs, or face drastic changes to their benefits. According to documents obtained by CNNMoney, the United States Postal Service is appealing to Congress to remove collective bargaining restrictions in order to lay off 120,000 workers. It also wants congressional approval to replace existing government health care and retirement plans.

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