While the day is often associated with barbecue, back-to-school sales, and last dips in pools across the country, Labour Day (the first Monday of September) stands for much more than a federal holiday. Image It’s a time to acknowledge the economic and social contributions of American workers, who have helped make the United States a strong, prosperous country with an improving quality of life. The holiday dates to the late 19th century, when labour activists began calling for a national day as workers went on strike and protested over dangerous conditions, low pay, and long hours.
The Origins of Labour Day
Labour Day has been a federal holiday since 1894, but the town of Peter J. McGuire got an article and was already celebrating by local states (by now his other title also). The push for state legislation followed the passage of municipal ordinances in 1885 and 1886, establishing the movement to honour this day. The first state to introduce a bill for Labour Day was New York, but Oregon was the first state to actually pass it into law on February 1, 1887. Shortly thereafter, four other states—Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York—passed Labour Day legislative bills. Another 23 states had officially recognised the holiday by the time Congress, in June of 1894, passed an act making Labour Day a national legal holiday on the first Monday of each September.
Now, Who Founded Labour Day: McGuire or Maguire?
The founders of Labour Day. The first Labour Day was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5th, in New York City and other cities for Peter J. McGuire, a union leader who co-founded the American Federation of Labour (AFofL). He dreamed that a day would come where workers are acknowledged as those who have brought glory to “all of us here.”
But other research indicates that the Central Labour Union in New York City suggested it, first proposed by Matthew Maguire, machinist and secretary of the CLU. While some historical records show that Maguire proposed the holiday while serving as secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in, it’s unclear whether Mr. An article in the Paterson Morning Call from that time, according to press reports by the New Jersey Historical Society, says President Grover Cleveland signed the law creating a national Labour Day and where Maguire was credited as actually organising it.
But credit Maguire and McGuire for being involved in the country’s first Labour Day parade, contributing significantly to labour history, whether they jointly came up with America’s answer every Memorial Sunday—on a Monday!
The First Labour Day Parade
The first Labour Day was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City by the Central Labour ion. A march of some 10,000 workers from City Hall through the streets to a mammoth picnic in an uptown park plagued Mrs. For most, it was an act of immense bravery to give up a day on the job in solidarity with labourers fighting for their rights as part of the “Less Work and More Pay” movement, which protested an eight-hour workday (and end convict labor)—risking being fired. A year later on that date, the Central Labour Union held its second Labour Day parade and planned for a larger event to be observed by every state.
In 1894, however, Labour Day gained national attention and was designated a holiday by President Grover Cleveland. This move is considered by some historians political retribution in the wake of violent conflict between striking railroad workers and federal troops during signs of an impending national strike, called the Pullman Strike, which earlier took place that year.
The Politics of Labour Day
It was also set aside to honour the rising power of American labour at a time when it had begun challenging long-established fiefdoms. This marked a historic moment in the labour movement and began with the Pullman Strike of 1894, which resulted from a wage cut by George M. Pullman’s company that also cut his workers wages despite not dropping rent prices in their company town but destroying economic buildings during stikes. Workers, including union activist Eugene V. Debs, led a strike that shut down the railroads. A police response involving an injunction and federal troops to break the strike, however, led to violence that claimed many lives.
So it was during one of the most bitter periods of labour management conflict that President Cleveland signed into law making Labour Day a national holiday. Part of the reason for this move was to appease labour and stave off even more unrest. This also distracted from other end-of-April and May Day (May 1st) mobilisations, which had been consistently more radicalised expressions of left-wing protest or movement.
Celebrate Labour Day in Classic Style
Labour Day: From the Beginning Parades, festivals, and speeches The holiday is “for the purpose of exhibiting…the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labour organisations” as well as “to permit workers to do what is in their own interest: that is, to amuse themselves, including going on vacation or turning a long weekend into Nascar Day. Over time, with increasing spiritual and educational implications, the labour movement was shaped into something called Labour Sunday by different US trade union federations, and in that form it is sanctioned as ending one week before September 7.
The Modern Face of Labour Day
The observance of Labour Day has certainly evolved over the decades, particularly with regard to the state of organised bortion. To many, it signals the end of summer with barbecues, sales, and beach weather. But after all, the holiday still serves as a reminder of how American workers have advanced in their rights and, at the same time, must continue fighting for wages that provide lives worth living, working conditions that are safe enough to sustain those lives through retirement years, and equal treatment.
On the same day, in Canada, it is also a public holiday that recognises thousands of Canadian workers with Labour Day. Labour Day on Parliament Hill The first labour parades in Canada took place in Ottawa and Toronto in 1872 (Parliament officially recognised the holiday, 1894)
Click to read more on how other countries around the world celebrate May Day—remember, although it’s country-specific, only one thing is for sure: this day marks an undying spirit of workers across the globe.
Conclusion
But even more profoundly, Labour Day is not simply a day off; it was created to honour these hands whose labour built and sustains the nation. Parades, picnics, and gatherings are fine ways of celebrating the holiday, but in whatever way you mark Labour Day 2018, remember its origins as a product of the labour movement; think about what workers went through to get it established in your state; ponder on how their struggles laid the basis for much that we take for granted today. And when gathering with friends or co-workers, brew on this: Do working people have fairness and respect dignity where I work?
