Labor Day (article)

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A National Tribute to
the American Worker
The United States of America has always been touted as a country for the people, and Labor Day offers an opportunity to observe what the people themselves have done to help our country.

As Samuel Gompers, the founder and president of the American Federation of Labor, once said, "Labor Day differs in every essential way from the other holidays of the year in any country. All other holidays are in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles of man's prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, or glories achieved by one nation over another. Labor Day is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation."

While the purpose of Labor Day remains clear, its origin is slightly hazy. Some attribute the holiday to Peter McGuire, secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, and cofounder of the American Federation of Labor. McGuire is famous for once declaring the need for a holiday to honor those who have contributed to America's grandeur.

Still other sources recognize Matthew Maguire, machinist and later the secretary of the Central Labor Union, as proposing the initial idea. While sources remain uncertain, it is a known fact that the first Labor Day was celebrated on a Tuesday, September 5, in 1882 in New York City, as decreed by the Central Labor Union. One year later, the celebration repeated; and finally, in 1884, the first Monday in September was designated as the official Labor Day within New York.

Other labor organizations and states began to hear of New York's annual "workingman's holiday." By 1885, the tradition had spread to various industrial centers throughout the nation.

However, it was the state of Oregon, in 1887, that first legally declared Labor Day as a holiday. By 1894, nearly thirty other states had followed suit and adapted their own holidays in recognition of the working American. The District of Columbia and other United States' territories declared Labor Day a legal holiday that same year, with the intention of featuring public parades, festivities, and inspirational speeches. Today, the regulations in major industrial centers have made some of these festivities an impossibility; instead, Labor Day now strives to address people through the words of government officials, educators, and industrialists on television and in the newspapers.

Whether you celebrate Labor Day through a family barbeque, or listening to those who stress the economic and civic significance of the holiday, rest assured the Labor Day is still recognized as a national tribute to the American workers, without which the United States' prosperity and development would be nonexistent.


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Labor Day Trivia
Henry Ford instituted the 8 hour/5 day work scheme to alleviate depression in the auto industry in 1926.

Labor Day was officially made a holiday in 1894, although it had been promoted by Knights of Labor since 1887, and several states had already been celebrating it.

The first sit-down strikes occurred in rubber factories of Akron, Ohio in 1936. Three years later the Supreme Court rules that they are illegal.

On September 5, 1882 tens of thousands of workers marched in the first Labor Day Parade in New York City.

In 1938 the Wages and Hours Act (later known as the Fair Labor Standards Act) is passed. It bans child labor, and sets the work week at 40 hours.

In 1963 Congress passes a law mandating equal pay to women.

In the 1950s, 40% of the workforce belonged to unions; today the number has dropped to 14%.

In 1986 1700 female flight attendants win a lawsuit against United Airlines; the airline had fired them for getting married.

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