EDITORIAL LABOR DAY 2005 A TIME TO RELAX - AND TO REVITALIZE UNIONS.

THESE are tough times for American workers. Incomes remain flat, while gas, housing and health care prices soar. For most, this Labor Day serves as a much-needed day off to enjoy outdoor activities and the company of friends and family.

These are are also tough times for organized labor. The AFL-CIO is splitting apart. In California, public-employee unions increasingly take the blame for the state's woes. Across the nation, union membership is down.

The struggle of American workers and the struggles of American labor are no coincidence.

As labor flags, so does its ability to promote the interest of American workers. And the role of labor in government affects both the levels of taxation and public services that touch upon all facets of our lives.

The challenge facing Los Angeles, California and all America this Labor Day is how to revitalize the labor movement so that it better protects the well-being of all workers.

In L.A., there are plenty of examples to give us an idea of how that might happen.

The Service Employees International Union, for one, has done a phenomenal job of organizing and empowering whole classes of workers who have historically been exploited and disrespected, especially janitors. In helping these laborers to reach the middle class, the union has played a key role in raising the quality of life for all.

In the public sector, however, the results have been less positive.

For government employees themselves, times are great. Work rules are lax; paid holidays are plentiful; workweeks are getting shorter. Salaries are high, and pensions are far beyond anything even imaginable for comparable private-sector work. But these gains, obtained by pouring millions in members' dues into the campaign funds of elected officials, have come at a steep cost.

They come at a great expense to those on the outside - people who would take on public jobs, but can't, because municipalities lack the funds to hire more workers. And that, in turn, affects everyone: fewer cops on the street, fewer trees trimmed and potholes filled. Jails that release inmates early because they're too expensive to house. Schools that fail because inept teachers can't be fired.

While no one would argue that government workers shouldn't be treated fairly compared with the rest of the work force, when they are treated far better, an unhealthy situation results.

And as the SEIU has shown through its successful recruiting and outreach, the key to making labor strong is to bring in as many new union members as possible. To do that, the price of union labor has to be held to a reasonable - but fair - cost.

In this time of globalization, downsizing and outsourcing, of longer hours but smaller paychecks, America needs a dynamic and effective labor movement to help ensure that workers aren't lost in the shuffle. Workers, both unionized and not, need the protections that only healthy unions can provide.

Ironically, the answer to reinvigorating labor may well be found in the greatest example of labor's current weakness - the AFL-CIO breakup. Perhaps a little experimentation and healthy competition are exactly what the labor movement needs to become a more effective defender of the American worker.

So while times may be tough, there's also reason for hope.

Meanwhile, go enjoy a barbecue or a day at the beach. You've earned it.