labor day

Labor Day Parade, New York City - circa 1914

For most, Labor Day weekend is a time to relax and rejuvenate or celebrate by means of a vacation or attending a parade, then gathering with friends and family to eat, drink, and celebrate the end of summer. For some, it means getting more time to get to those projects around the house completed, you know, the many tasks you may have put on the back burner for days, weeks, and even months ago that desperately need your attention. The Labor Day weekend meaning for me has always been to go camping at my family’s property, spending quality time with one-another — but today, I am exploring the true meaning of what Labor Day is and what it means to truly celebrate it.

A little history for you…

Labor Day is an annual celebration of workers and their achievements, originated during one of American labor history’s most dismal chapters.

In the late 1800s, at the height of the Industrial Revolution in the United States, the average American worked 12-hour days and seven-day weeks in order to support a basic living. Despite restrictions in some states, children as young as 5 or 6 toiled in mills, factories and mines across the country, earning a fraction of their adult counterparts’ wages.

People of all ages, particularly the very poor and recent immigrants, often faced extremely unsafe working conditions, with insufficient access to fresh air, sanitary facilities and breaks.

As manufacturing increasingly supplanted agriculture as the wellspring of American employment, labor unions, which had first appeared in the late 18th century, grew more prominent and vocal. They began organizing strikes and rallies to protest poor conditions and compel employers to renegotiate hours and pay.

Many of these events turned violent during this period, including the infamous Haymarket Riot of 1886, in which several Chicago policemen and workers were killed. Others gave rise to longstanding traditions: On September 5, 1882, 10,000 workers took unpaid time off to march from City Hall to Union Square in New York City, holding the first Labor Day parade in U.S. History.

The idea of a “workingmen’s holiday,” celebrated on the first Monday in September, caught on in other industrial centers across the country, and many states passed legislation recognizing it. Congress would not legalize the holiday until 12 years later, when a watershed moment in American history brought workers’ rights squarely into the public’s view. On May 11, 1894, employees of the Pullman Palace Car Company in Chicago went on strike to protest wage cuts and the firing of union representatives. On June 26, the American Railroad Union, led by Eugene V. Debs, called for a boycott of all Pullman railway cars, crippling railroad traffic nationwide. To break the Pullman strike, the federal government dispatched troops to Chicago, unleashing a wave of riots that resulted in the deaths of more than a dozen workers.

In the wake of this massive unrest and in an attempt to repair ties with American workers, Congress passed an act making Labor Day a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories. On June 28, 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed it into law. More than a century later, the true founder of Labor Day has yet to be identified. Many credit Peter J. McGuire, cofounder of the American Federation of Labor, while others have suggested that Matthew Maguire, a secretary of the Central Labor Union, first proposed the holiday.

After my research, I now have a more clear understanding of the history of Labor Day, and with that, there is definitely reason to celebrate. The next three days as I spend time with family down in the beautiful mountains of Oregon, I plan to share this history so as to acknowledge and memorialize the many individuals that risked their lives by taking a stance to be treated fairly. I have so much more appreciation for our country’s past and present American workers, and feel it is my duty to continue celebrating in honor of those who paved the way for my own workers’ rights.

I hope you all enjoy your weekend and do your own version of celebrating. Cheers!

content credit: history.com