Working on Labor Day
Labor Day no holiday for some
Millions of Americans had the Labor Day holiday off today, but for those who worked the holiday, it was a special day on the job.
The Labor Day holiday is anything but for the workers at Olive Garden in Yakima, getting lunch and dinner ready for more than 200 troops working today at the Yakima Training Center.
"It takes a lot of people doing a lot of different things to get salads, breadsticks, pastas gotta be ready, so it's a group effort," says server Kimberly Loveless.
The restaurant is keeping a Labor Day tradition of providing meals to police, firefighters, and others who protect us. This year, employees chose the military to show appreciation for their sacrifices.
"If there was any other way that I think I could do something to thank them back, I would, but this is as good as I get for now," says server Deanne Bailey.
The holiday brings many tourists to Yakima. That's prime time for the visitors center, whose employees labor to make sure out-of-towners get their questions about where to go and what to see, answered from the experts.
"That's why I love working weekends, cause you get to meet people from all over the world actually, it's actually quite entertaining, fun," says Debra Roullier of the visitors center.
Stores and carwashes are also open today. And so is this coffee shop. Being open today is proving to be very profitable for Cruisin Coffee.
"And we've gotten a lot of people today who've come in and that's why they've come through, cause their place has been closed, so it's been nice, lots of new faces," says employee Whitney Russell.
As the unemployment rate in Washington state remains high, many workers are glad to celebrate Labor Day, on the job.
"Very thankful we have jobs, we're here, so yeah," says Russell.
As of August, the national unemployment rate is 9.6%.