Labor Day to me means time to relax, the great outdoors and picnic tables laden with delicious food, including sizzling hamburgers. Occasionally, I have been near lakes or ridden in a boat, which were always special times. This year, I think it should be a celebration of front-line workers, those who go to work every day to serve us during this pandemic. In fact, there will be many of them working on Labor Day. Countless numbers of them risk their lives to provide necessary services. I salute their goodness and decency, committed sense of purpose and dedication to performing their best. They are true heroes, worthy of our praise.
Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United States. It is the Monday of the long weekend known as Labor Day Weekend.
Beginning in the late 19th century, as the trade union and labor movements grew, trade unionists proposed that a day be set aside to celebrate labor. "Labor Day" was promoted by the Central Labor Union and the Knights of Labor, which organized the first parade in New York City. The Central Labor Union of New York, Brooklyn, and New Jersey was an early trade union organization that later broke up into various locals, which are now AFL-CIO members. The establishment of the CLU predates the consolidation of New York City (1897) by nearly two decades. Organized in 1867, it later spread to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The union was firmly Marxist in orientation and was the first integrated labor union in the United States.
In 1887, Oregon was the first state of the United States to make it an official public holiday. According to author, historian and activist Michael Helquist’s September 7, 2015 article “Oregon Passes 1st State Law for Labor Day Holiday in 1887” at michaelhelquist.com, not surprisingly, the Oregonian took exception to the notion. In an editorial on February 10, 1887, the paper declared: “About the silliest of all the demagogical methods of ‘aiding labor’ is the bill to declare a special holiday in June to be known as ‘Labor Day.’ There is sufficient inclination to idleness, there are sufficient incentives to productivity already. Just in what way labor is to be benefited by an invitation to shut up shop or stop the plow upon a particular day in the busy season, or indeed, at any other time, does not appear.”
According to Wikipedia, by the time it became an official federal holiday in 1894, 30 states in the United States officially celebrated Labor Day.
Canada’s Labour Day is also celebrated on the first Monday of September. More than 80 countries celebrate International Workers’ Day on May 1, the ancient European holiday of May Day. May Day was chosen by the Second International — an organization of socialist and labor parties. Second International also declared International Women’s Day in 1910, first celebrated on March 19 and then on March 8 after the main day of the women's marches in 1917 during the Russian Revolution. In addition, it initiated the international campaign for the eight-hour working day. May Day was chosen for International Workers’ Day to commemorate the Haymarket affair which occurred in Chicago on May 4, 1886.
Haymarket affair
The Haymarket affair — also known as the Haymarket massacre, Haymarket riot or Haymarket Square riot — was the aftermath of a bombing that took place at a labor demonstration on May 4, 1886, at Haymarket Square in Chicago. It began as a peaceful rally in support of workers striking for an eight-hour work day, the day after police killed one and injured several workers. An unknown person threw a dynamite bomb at the police as they acted to disperse the meeting, and the bomb blast and ensuing gunfire resulted in the deaths of seven police officers and at least four civilians; dozens of others were wounded.
In the internationally publicized legal proceedings that followed, eight anarchists were convicted of conspiracy. The evidence was that one of the defendants may have built the bomb, but none of those on trial had thrown it. Seven were sentenced to death and one to a term of 15 years in prison. Illinois Governor Richard J. Oglesby commuted two of the sentences to terms of life in prison; another committed suicide in jail rather than face the gallows. The other four were hanged on November 11, 1887. In 1893, Illinois Governor John Peter Altgeld pardoned the remaining defendants and criticized the trial.
The 1886 engraving above was the most widely reproduced image of the Haymarket affair. It shows Methodist pastor Samuel Fielden speaking, the bomb exploding and the riot beginning simultaneously; in reality, Fielden had finished speaking before the explosion.
According to labor studies professor William J. Adelman, “No single event has influenced the history of labor in Illinois, the United States, and even the world, more than the Chicago Haymarket affair. It began with a rally on May 4, 1886, but the consequences are still being felt today. Although the rally is included in American history textbooks, very few present the event accurately or point out its significance.”
The site of the incident was designated a Chicago landmark in 1992, and a sculpture was dedicated there in 2004. In addition, the Haymarket Martyrs’ Monument was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1997 at the defendants' burial site in Forest Park.
Origin
Beginning in the late 19th century, as the trade union and labor movements grew, different groups of trade unionists chose a variety of days on which to celebrate labor. In the United States, a September holiday called Labor Day was first proposed in the early 1880s. Alternate stories of the event's origination exist.
According to one early history of Labor Day, the event originated in connection with a General Assembly of the Knights of Labor in New York City in September 1882. In connection with this clandestine Knights assembly, a public parade of various labor organizations was held on September 5 under the auspices of the Central Labor Union of New York. Secretary of the CLU Matthew Maguire is credited for first proposing that a national Labor Day holiday subsequently be held on the first Monday of each September in the aftermath of this successful public demonstration.
Knights of Labor — officially Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor — was an American labor federation active in the late 19th century, especially the 1880s. It operated in the United States as well in Canada and had chapters also in Great Britain and Australia. The Knights promoted the social and cultural uplift of the working man and demanded the eight-hour day. In some cases, it acted as a labor union, negotiating with employers, but it was never well organized or funded. It was notable in its ambition to organize across lines of gender and race and in the inclusion of both skilled and unskilled labor. After a rapid expansion in the mid-1880s, it suddenly lost its new members and became a small operation again.
An alternative thesis maintains that the idea of Labor Day was the brainchild of Peter J. McGuire, a vice president of the American Federation of Labor, who — after a visit to Toronto where he saw parades celebrating labor that May — had put forward the initial proposal in the spring of 1882. According to McGuire, on May 8, 1882, he made a proposition to the fledgling Central Labor Union in New York City that a day be set aside for a "general holiday for the laboring classes." According to McGuire he further recommended that the event should begin with a street parade as a public demonstration of organized labor's solidarity and strength, with the march followed by a picnic, to which participating local unions could sell tickets as a fundraiser. According to McGuire, he suggested the first Monday in September as an ideal date for such a public celebration, owing to optimum weather and the date's place on the calendar, sitting midway between the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving public holidays.
Labor Day picnics and other public gatherings frequently featured speeches by prominent labor leaders.
In 1909, the American Federation of Labor convention designated the Sunday preceding Labor Day as "Labor Sunday," to be dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement. This secondary date failed to gain significant traction in popular culture, although some churches continue to acknowledge it.
Legal recognition
In 1894, Congress passed a bill recognizing the first Monday of September as Labor Day and making it an official federal holiday. President Grover Cleveland signed the bill into law on June 28. The federal law, however, only made it a holiday for federal workers. As late as the 1930s, unions were encouraging workers to strike to make sure they got the day off. All U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and the United States territories have subsequently made Labor Day a statutory holiday.
Labor Day vs. May Day
There was disagreement among labor unions about when a holiday celebrating workers should be, with some advocating for continued emphasis of the September march-and-picnic date while others sought the designation of the more politically charged date of May 1.
Conservative Democratic President Grover Cleveland was one of those concerned that a labor holiday on May 1 would tend to become a commemoration of the Haymarket affair and would strengthen socialist and anarchist movements that backed the May 1 commemoration around the globe. In 1887, he publicly supported the September Labor Day holiday as a less inflammatory alternative, formally adopting the date as a United States federal holiday through a law that he signed in 1894.
Since the mid-1950s, the United States has celebrated Loyalty Day and Law Day on May 1. Unlike Labor Day, both are not legal public holidays — in that non-essential government agencies and most businesses do not shut down to celebrate them — and therefore have remained relatively obscure. Loyalty Day — a day set aside "for the reaffirmation of loyalty to the United States and for the recognition of the heritage of American freedom" — is formally celebrated in a few cities, while some bar associations hold Law Day events to celebrate the rule of law.
Unofficial end of summer
Labor Day is called the "unofficial end of summer" because it marks the end of the cultural summer season. Many take their two-week vacations during the two weeks ending Labor Day weekend. Many fall activities — such as school and sports — begin about this time.
In the United States, many school districts resume classes around the Labor Day holiday weekend. Some begin the week before, making Labor Day weekend the first three-day weekend of the school calendar, while others return the Tuesday following Labor Day. Many districts across the Midwest are opting to begin school after Labor Day.
In the U.S. state of Virginia, the amusement park industry has successfully lobbied for legislation requiring most school districts in the state to have their first day of school after Labor Day, in order to give families another weekend to visit amusement parks in the state. The relevant statute has been nicknamed the "Kings Dominion law" after one such park. This law was repealed in 2019.
In the U.S. state of Minnesota, the State Fair ends on Labor Day. Under state law, public schools normally do not begin until after the holiday. One reason given for this timing was to allow time for school children to show 4-H projects at the fair.
In U.S. sports, Labor Day weekend marks the beginning of many fall sports. National Collegiate Athletic Association teams usually play their first games that weekend, and the National Football League traditionally play its kickoff game the Thursday following Labor Day. The Southern 500 NASCAR auto race has been held on Labor Day weekend at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina from 1950 to 2003 and since 2015. At Indianapolis Raceway Park, the National Hot Rod Association hold their finals of the NHRA U.S. Nationals drag race that weekend. Labor Day is the middle point between weeks one and two of the U.S. Open Tennis Championships held in Flushing Meadows, New York.
In fashion, Labor Day is — or was — considered the last day when it is acceptable to wear white or seersucker.
There are numerous events and activities organized in major cities. For example, New York offers the Labor Day Carnival and fireworks over Coney Island. In Washington, one popular event is the Labor Day Concert at the U.S. Capitol featuring the National Symphony Orchestra with free attendance.
Labor Day sales
To take advantage of large numbers of potential customers with time to shop, Labor Day has become an important weekend for discounts and allowances by many retailers in the United States, especially for back-to-school. Some retailers claim it is one of the largest sale dates of the year, second only to the Christmas season's Black Friday.
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