SACRAMENTO — For most Americans, the first Monday of September — Labor Day – means another three-day weekend and the unofficial last day of summer.

For some Sacramento Labor Council workers, it was something more.

“It’s a way for us to give back to the community to those that are far less fortunate than we are,” volunteer Armando Guerrero said.

Guerrero, of the sheet metal workers union, oversees getting the barbecue chicken ready to serve to hundreds of people stopping by for meal at Loaves & Fishes.

He even brought his daughter Carla along.

“Events like this teach her so much more, to be appreciative and to learn to give back to her community,” he said.

For the last 30 years, AFL-CIO members have used their day off to go to work. On Monday’s menu was barbecue chicken, potato salad and baked beans.

The labor union members wanted people to know that Labor Day is about so much more than hanging out by the pool or going on vacation.

“Organized labor is vitally important to the economic health of our country,” Sacramento Central Labor Council Executive Director Fabrizio Sasso said.

Sasso says there is still more that could be done for everyday Americans.

“People are having a hard time paying their rent,” he told FOX40. “They are having a hard time putting food on the table. They are working multiple jobs.”

Hard work – it’s a mindset these volunteers are bringing to the kitchen.

“It’s a lot of work,” Guerrero said. “But I’m used to hard work.”