Labor Day is legal holiday honoring workers,
celebrated in the United States and Canada on the first Monday in September.
The observance includes parades and speeches reviewing labor’s contributions to
society. In most of Europe the first of May—May Day—is set aside as a day to
honor workers.
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II
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ORIGINS OF LABOR DAY IN THE UNITED STATES
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Peter J. McGuire, a carpenter and union leader,
generally receives credit for suggesting a holiday to honor workers in 1882.
McGuire chose the September date to give workers a holiday midway through the
long stretch between Independence Day (July 4) and Thanksgiving (the fourth
Thursday in November). The first Labor Day observance was held in New York City
on September 5, 1882. Thousands of workers marched in a parade from City Hall
to Union Square. Afterward, they gathered in a park with their families for a
picnic and speeches.
In 1887 Oregon became the first state to make Labor
Day a legal holiday. Other states soon followed. Early Labor Day parades were
demonstrations in support of an eight-hour workday. During the 1800s most
laborers worked long hours at low pay.
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LABOR DAY BECOMES A FEDERAL HOLIDAY
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In 1894 the United States Congress passed
legislation that made Labor Day a federal holiday, and President Grover
Cleveland signed the bill into law. That year, railway workers in Pullman,
Illinois, had gone on strike to protest wage cuts. Cleveland sent in federal
troops to end the strike. Strikers were killed, and their leaders were jailed.
Congress and the president hoped to pacify labor with the holiday.
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LABOR DAY OBSERVANCES
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For some time Labor Day remained a time not
only to commemorate labor’s contributions but also to draw public attention to
the plight of workers and the struggle of labor unions to improve working
conditions. Parades in which workers march with their local union and at which
labor leaders give speeches are still a major feature of Labor Day in many U.S.
towns and cities. One of the largest Labor Day parades in the United States
takes place in New York City.
To many Americans, however, Labor Day signals the end
of summer vacations and the start of a new school year. Many families observe
Labor Day by gathering for the last picnic of summer or the season’s final trip
to the beach.
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LABOUR DAY IN CANADA
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Labor groups in the Canadian cities of Ottawa and
Toronto first organized parades and rallies in 1872, ten years before the first
Labor Day celebration in the United States. The parade in Ottawa, Canada’s
capital, marched to the home of Canadian prime minister John A. Macdonald. At
that time, union activity was illegal in Canada. Macdonald promised that such
laws would be removed from the statute books, and the Canadian Parliament
repealed the laws against union membership later in 1872.
Peter McGuire, the initiator of New York City’s
first Labor Day parade, may have gotten the idea from Toronto. Toronto labor
officials invited McGuire to their celebrations in 1882. That year he proposed
the idea for a workers’ parade in New York.
The Canadian Parliament passed legislation making Labour
Day an official holiday in 1894, the same year as the U.S. Congress. Labour Day
celebrations in Canada are held on the first Monday in September and are
similar to those in the United States.
