There is, of course, something to celebrate this Labor Day. The sunniest news is the 3.9 percent unemployment measured across the U.S. in July. In Hawaii, the jobless rate is even lower, at 2.1 percent, for the same month.

The full story, of course, is much more complex, and it requires answering a question: Is the expanding workforce able to secure its essential needs, without struggle? It is distressing to see that for a growing proportion of Americans, the answer is no.

Some data points worth noting come from a report from the Urban Institute, a nonprofit research organization that in 2017 conducted a “Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey.” The analysis showed nearly 40 percent of adults asserting that they or their families had difficulty fulfilling at least one basic need. And these are truly the basics: food, health care, housing and utilities were the categories.

How can this be happening? There’s one key factor: For most people, pay has not significantly increased in years, widening income disparity. According to a study by the Pew Research Center, real wages for those in the top one-tenth of the income scale rose 15.7 percent since 2000, to a point nearly five times the usual weekly earnings of the bottom 10 percent.

Economists, poring over the data, note the complications. Of course, worker compensation also includes health insurance, retirement-account contributions and various other benefits, all of which are increasingly costly.

But cash wages and salaries are still by far the largest piece, about 70 percent of the pay packet, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Experts cite myriad reasons for this discouraging development, and they’ve been building over years. One is that the recession drove millions to drop out of the workforce altogether, and there is still enough residual labor supply to reduce upward pressure on wages.

But another, more potent reason is the weakened influence of organized labor, which has diminished over decades. It has struggled to counter assertions of its corruption and unresponsiveness.

A generational shift has occurred, with younger workers entering the job force, a cohort less backed by a collective-bargaining unit and more left to their own devices.

This is what’s described with the breezy expression, “the gig economy.” There’s something to be said for the independence of the self-employed worker who is pounding the pavement in search of assignments for their sole-proprietorship business, or for the between-jobs worker who fills in the gap with ride-hailing work or other freelancing initiatives.

But it’s a painful slog, too, one without the security of health coverage or other conventional lures. Especially for those burdened by college debt and other financial challenges, this is no long-term solution.

One of the last robust sectors of organized labor, public-employee unions, was dealt a serious blow recently with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees.

Essentially, the court held that employees represented by the unions must receive the same negotiated wages, conditions and benefits, regardless of whether they pay union dues. This, the unions fear, will weaken their clout with their members, and as a bargaining power.

However, there is also a countervailing force in some sectors, with organized protests over minimum- wage increases and better conditions for public school teachers gaining support, even in some conservative states.

Just how this new dynamic will play out remains to be seen. Whether or not the workforce is able to re-establish middle-class standards will hinge on whether people can effectively advocate for policies to narrow the income gap.

Union or no union, that has to be a collective effort.