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Table of Contents
Labor Day
Federal Holiday
In the United States, Labor Day is a federal holiday. It takes place on the first Monday of September.1)
Aim
The purpose of the holiday is to commemorate and acknowledge the American labor movement, as well as the laborers' efforts and contributions to the growth and successes of the United States.2)
Labor Day Weekend
It falls over a three-day weekend known as Labor Day Weekend.3)
Idea
As the trade union and labor organizations emerged in the late nineteenth century, trade unionists urged that a day be set aside to commemorate labor.4)
First Parade
The Central Labor Union and the Knights of Labor sponsored “Labor Day,” and the inaugural march in New York City was arranged by them.5)
Oregon
Oregon was the first state in the United States to declare it a public holiday in 1887.6)
1894
By the time Labor Day became an official federal holiday in 1894, thirty states in the United States were formally celebrating it.7)
Canada
Labour Day is also observed on the first Monday of September in Canada.8)
Workers' Day
On May 1, more than 80 nations observe International Workers' Day, the old European celebration of May Day.9)
May Day
The Second International of socialist and communist groups picked May Day to memorialize the Haymarket event, which happened in Chicago on May 4, 1886.10)
Labor Movement In 19th Century
As the trade union and labor organizations emerged in the late nineteenth century, various groupings of trade unionists picked a number of days to commemorate work.11)
September Holiday
Labor Day, a September holiday in the United States, was initially suggested in the early 1880s.12)
First Holiday Origin
According to one early history of Labor Day, the celebration began in September 1882 with a General Assembly of the Knights of Labor in New York City. A public procession of several labor groups was staged on September 5 in connection with this clandestine Knights gathering under the auspices of the Central Labor Union (CLU) of New York.13)
Matthew Maguire
In the aftermath of this successful public rally, CLU Secretary Matthew Maguire is credited with recommending that a national Labor Day holiday be observed on the first Monday of each September.14)
Peter J. McGuire
Another legend is that the concept for Workers Day came from Peter J. McGuire, a vice president of the American Federation of Labor, who, after visiting Toronto and seeing parades honouring labor that May, proposed the first proposal in the spring of 1882.15)
Proposition From McGuire
According to McGuire, on May 8, 1882, he proposed to New York City's embryonic Central Labor Union that a day be set aside for a “universal vacation for the working people”.16)
Solidarity And Strength
According to McGuire, the event could begin with a street procession as a public display of organized labor's solidarity and power, followed by a picnic to which participating local unions may sell tickets as a fundraiser.17)
First Monday In September
According to McGuire, the first Monday in September is an appropriate date for such a public celebration because of the favorable weather and the day's location on the calendar, which is midway between the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving public holidays.18)
Labor Sunday
The Sunday preceding Labor Day was named as “Labor Sunday” by the American Federation of Labor conference in 1909, to be dedicated to the spiritual and educational sides of the labor movement.19)
Signed Into Law
By 1894, thirty states in the United States were formally commemorating Labor Day. That year, Congress approved legislation designating the first Monday of September as Labor Day and declaring it a federal holiday. On June 28, President Grover Cleveland signed the measure into law.20)
Only For Federal Workers
However, federal law only designated it a holiday for government employees. Unions encouraged employees to strike as late as the 1930s to ensure they had the day off.21)