Labor Day in the U.S.A.

Labor Day celebrates the American worker—the men and women who wake up every day and go to work to make the world around us a little easier and a little better.  They are those who make America—America.

The holiday has its origins in the 1880s.  After the Civil War, America shifted from a predominantly agricultural society to an industrial economy.  This transition was not always easy for industrial workers, as many worked long hours, usually twelve-hour days six days a week, to make ends meet.  This led to labor unions organizing against poor working conditions and wage cuts.

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 nationwide.  Many states passed legislation to recognize this as a holiday.

In 1894, to repair relations with American workers after a strike in Chicago turned deadly and crippled railway traffic nationwide, Congress passed an act making Labor Day a federal holiday.  President Grover Cleveland signed the act into law on June 28, 1894.  Americans have celebrated ever since.

In a footnote of interest, Henry Ford is widely credited with the current five-day, 40-hour work week, when the Ford Motor Company became the first major American corporation to implement the model in 1922.  Other companies soon followed.