Ask Mike: Who started Labor Day?
Hey Guys,
This Monday is Labor Day. And for many hard-working Americans, that means a day off to relax and enjoy the life you work so hard for. But how exactly did the holiday come to exist? Is it something workers demanded and fought for?
My first stop was at (where else?) the official site of the Department of Labor. They have a well-written section on the history of the holiday and some of the theories on who first proposed it.
Some experts believe that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a cofounder of the American Federation of Labor, was the first to propose the holiday. Others believe a machinist by the name of Matthew Maguire deserves the credit. Some evidence suggests that Maguire proposed the holiday in 1882.
Regardless of who came up with the idea, the first Labor Day occurred on September 5, 1882 in New York City. The event was organized and official, but not sanctioned by the government. It wasn’t until June 28, 1894 that “Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday.”
History.com expands a bit on the holiday’s back story. Back in the 1880s, America was in the midst of the Industrial Revolution. That was good for the country, but in many ways it wasn’t so good for the American worker. Many people had to work 12 hour days seven days a week just to make ends meet. American unions, fed up with the excessive work, “voiced their demands for a better way of life.” A massive march took place in early September — the first Labor Day.
I also found a nice quote on the meaning of Labor Day from about.com. Samuel Gompers, the founder of the American Federation of Labor, once said “All other holidays are in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles of man’s prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another. Labor Day…is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation.”
So, if you’re lucky enough to have a job that celebrates Labor Day, put your feet up, relax, and try your best not to do a lick of work. You deserve it.
Thanks for reading,
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hola(hallo)
will who started labor day was Peter J. McGuire
wow, where are all the comments?
as a Virgo baby…I have come to realize that…our fathers,…………..bought lavish gifts for our mothers for Christmas/New Year’s…(Dec 25..Jan 1)…and…viola….nine months later…most of us were born about the first monday in sept…(However..I applaud all the Labor Day Mommies..in labor at the end of summer…’cuz you carried us all through the hottest part of the year..and loved us for the rest of the year..
It was started by a pregnant woman who finally gave birth on the first Monday in September. Her name was Eve.
Happy Labor Day!
Who started Labor Day?
First parents well before 1882.
Mark’s theory is pretty good, but I think it’s more that couple tend to “gift” one another with sex on Christmas or “celebrate” New Years the same way (after drinking a bit).
I had my Virgo baby due to a blizzard in the Northeast in 1982 which dumped 28 inches of snow in the New Jersey area. In my neighborhood alone there were four pregnancies, all due the first week of September. We realized what we were all doing when we got snowed in!
BTW, that summer of 1982 was one of the hottest, and August was absolutely miserable. Being 9 mos pregnant and couldn’t afford to run the air conditioner made for many cranky mothers-to-be that year. I used to get in the shower with my sundress on and then sit soaking wet in front of the fan to keep cool. I was happy when I delivered my daughter finally on September 9th.
I found this in Wikipedia:
Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September (September 7 in 2009).
The holiday originated in Canada out of labor disputes (“Nine-Hour Movement”) first in Hamilton, then in Toronto, Canada in the 1870s, which resulted in a Trade Union Act which legalized and protected union activity in 1872 in Canada. The parades held in support of the Nine-Hour Movement and the printers’ strike led to an annual celebration in Canada. In 1882, American labor leader Peter J. McGuire witnessed one of these labor festivals in Toronto. Inspired from Canadian events in Toronto, he returned the USA, to New York and organized the first American “labor day” on September 5 of the same year.
The first Labor Day in the United States was celebrated on September 5, 1882 in New York City.[1] In the aftermath of the deaths of a number of workers at the hands of the US military and US Marshals during the 1894 Pullman Strike, President Grover Cleveland put reconciliation with Labor as a top political priority. Fearing further conflict, legislation making Labor Day a national holiday was rushed through Congress unanimously and signed into law a mere six days after the end of the strike.[2] Cleveland was also concerned that aligning a US labor holiday with existing international May Day celebrations would stir up negative emotions linked to the Haymarket Affair.[3] All 50 U.S. states have made Labor Day a state holiday.
Labor Day was started by pregnant women.
(I’ll understand if you have to think about that)
I completely agree with you Mark, as my birthday is on Labor Day this year.
Labor day is not for/from working people is for the mothers in Labor that carry their childs for nine months is a misunderstud holyday. Holyday says it all is a “holly” day!
Without doing the obvious research, I’ll just suffice to say the person (or persons) who started Labor Day is someone who probably wanted people (especially “laborers”) to remember or recognize that labor is important, not only to the overseer, but to each laborer individually. Seems people would tend to forget that.
Mike, I’ve always wondered this same thing: how it got started. And Mark, my son’s birthday is the tenth, from New Years. That ’66 summer being pregnant WAS hot, boy! But Labor Day, back to the subject, through my working years, was a glorious, much-anticipated and appreciated long weekend, so that Sunday night wasn’t the usual dread of the Monday morning alarm clock. Whoever and however it began, those years of that weekend throw my gratitude in the pile. And this year, at 62, my flag for the people resting Monday is on my front porch. Our day.
Wow, other than my Dad, most people I’ve known, myself included, never have jobs which acknoledge Labor Day. But if it’s government sanctioned, shouldn’t they HAVE to?
Labor Day or International Workers Day actually began in the 1870′s. It was organized by a Trade Union Act in Toronto, Canada. It protected & legalized union activity in 1872 leading to annual celebrations begining 1882.
Peter J. McGuire attended a Labor Day Parade. Then inspired he returned to New York, United States & organized the first American Labor Day on September 5th 1882.
Source: Wikpedia.com
Cedarville, OH claims to be the birthblace of labor day. I dont recall why.
see… all good things come from CANADA,,, like universal health care
Very interesting, I’ve read your stuff before and think it interesting that you do these types of things.
Your all wrong, Labor Day was invented by the furniture and mattress companies in order to have their big labor day sales.
I am a delegate and trustee in my local carpenters union. It was the UBCJA (United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America) under the direction of Peter McGuire, that first proposed Labor Day.
Also, the Carpenters Union originated the 40-hour work week. Before the development of that, carpenters had to work from sunrise to sunset, 7 days a week. The 40 hour week was to allow carpenters more time with their families (the wives were fully involved with this), and to allow a full day off on both the Jewish and Christian sabbaths.
I always have to work on Labor Day. Hospitals never close! They do acknowledge that it is a holiday, but rather than getting it off, we get paid time-and-a-half. I was pretty pleased with this arrangement, until I found out that my friend’s husband, who works in a factory, gets paid triple time!
My Mother was a single working Mom so Labor Day wasn’t a day of rest at our home. We washed clothes and readied the house for the coming winter. Happy Labor Day!!!!
Labour Day, huh? You learn new things beyond the mud puddle every day. I believe the equivalent in some other countries would be May Day.
With this, everyone wil see that “Organized Labor” brought this holiday into being.
Buy Union.
labor was invented by people who dont like to work
For all those who think they conceived on Christmas in order to have a Labor Day baby, your stomaches were likely stuffed with Thanksgiving dinner when you conceived.
Count out the nine months (really 40 weeks).
Happy Labor Day Everyone! With the meaning of Labor Day is “No Labor”, Enjoy!!
Good job Mike! It’s important to me that we don’t stop praising America and God for the good things we’ve sone and sorry for the terrible things that we’ve done to this country and God’s acerage!
i know whos tarted labor day. MEXICANS they need alll the off time they can get LOL!!!! JK i am mexican myself!
it was invented by lazy socialists to get out of work. this country needs to eliminate minimum wage and get rid of unions before it is too late.
i have the slightest idea but its cool holiday we get outta school
I always think Labor day is Memorial Day and Memorial day was Labor day. I always get them mixed up.
Samuel Gompers naturally wished to extole the virtues of this particular holiday although his observation isn’t very accurate. President’s Day is to honor the memory of two illustrious Americans(Lincoln and Washington) and is celebrated jointly so that room could be made to celebrate another great American(Martin Luther King). While Independence Day led to inevitable conflict, it marks the initial signing of the Declaration of Independence and is a political statement of freedom from tyrannical British rule. Thanksgiving is simply a harvest festival. Christmas marks the the birth of Christ and New Years Day is simply the beginning of the new year in the Gregorian calender. Memorial Day marks the end of the First World War so I might concede him this holiday as having anything to do with conflict between nations and men brought about by greed though the causes and contributing factors of said conflict were really much more complex.
I think it had something to do with Canada in the 1870s….
“”labor was invented by people who don’t like to work…”"hahaha
ohhhh
Some of these answers are funny..
This is what said on the Y! Buzz:
The Sad Story Behind Labor Day
by Claudine Zap
For most of us, Labor Day means backyard barbecues, weekend sales, and a last carefree day before school starts. But the laid-back holiday has some seriously sad history, including chaos, riots, and even death. Let us explain.
A tragic tale
Back in the days of the Industrial Revolution, workers were expected to put in 12-hour days, seven days a week (yes, including kids). Already sounds awful, right? It gets worse. In Pullman, Illinois, a company town that employed and housed workers to build posh railway cars, times had gotten tough. In response, George Pullman cut jobs and wages. It was 1893. Thousands of workers walked off their jobs in protest, demanding higher salaries and lower rents. Other unions joined, refusing to work the Pullman cars, turning the small-town fracas into a national fury.
With mail cars backing up, and riots worrying train execs, President Grover Cleveland stepped in. He declared the strike illegal and sent 12,000 troops to break the strike. Cue brutal protests and bloodshed. The strike was broken, but so was the spirit of the workers. To reach out to the labor movement, Congress rushed the national holiday into law. The bad will resulted in Cleveland losing re-election. But the day off for hot dogs endures.
When is it?
Labor Day falls on the first Monday of September. This year, that would be Monday, September 7. According to the Department of Labor, Congress passed an act in 1894 making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday.
So, working stiffs everywhere, say it now, with feeling: Happy Labor Day.
Now this another story of how it started, but the actual mean as in how I think it, is that we all celebrate this holiday, in remembreness to the fellow Americans who worked very hard in the Industrial Revolution era, who fought to deserve it, and demaned it.
I don’t know who actually started it, but to all and everyone, Happy Labor Day.
Aside from the law, did anyone ever wonder why it was on a Monday? Any other day in the week, would be a disruption to the work week. Monday made it a long weekend and it was the employer that paid for it. However, employers usually got theirs back by requiring every to one work the following Saturday. Most kids that remember their Dad’s working on Labor Day didn’t realize that 1) somebody had to do the vital services and 2) that it was premium pay.
The Black Eyed Peas, silly
Peter J. McGuire, a carpenter and labor union leader, was the person who came up with the idea for Labor Day. The very first Labor Day was held on a Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City. The day was celebrated with a picnic, concert and speeches. Ten thousand workers marched in a parade from City Hall to Union Square.
Soon after that first celebration, the holiday was moved to the first Monday in September, the day we still honor. Congress passed legislation making Labor Day a national holiday in 1894.
My dad worked 12 hour days 7 days a week up until he retired last year.. so not everyone gets to work 9-5 with 3 day weekends.. he got paid holiday pay, which i have seldom had jobs that had the day off cause things needed to get done, so I have had the holiday pay too and it isn’t bad at all.. I had to work labor day this year but my job I work four 12 hour days with 4 days off, so for all the people who got their 3 day weekend I have had 8 days off surrounding that weekend i worked fri – mon and have tues – fri off plus holiday pay for mon. The best was (as I was driving to work) seeing all the people with their boats and campers stuck in returning traffic frowning knowing that they still have to get home, unpack and get ready to work the next day.
Labor Day is the day we celebrate the long hours we work and how few holidays we get compared to the rest of the western world.
Also, according to Wiki:
“The first Labor Day in the United States was celebrated on September 5, 1882 in New York City.[1] In the aftermath of the deaths of a number of workers at the hands of the US military and US Marshals during the 1894 Pullman Strike, President Grover Cleveland put reconciliation with Labor as a top political priority.”
It was a concession to avoid bloodshed. Just like May Day, the Labor Day in Canada, was a concession after police killed strikers there.
I think the “who” is less important than the “why” of this holiday. President Grover Cleveland ordered a massacre of the people who marched and protested. Many died because it was considered an illegal activity.
Labor Day was Congress’s way of trying to apologize to the public, after breaking their spirits with such an act. His decision cost him a second election.
Those people died to protest unfair wages, poor living conditions, and the like. And now, today, we benefit with minimum wage and overtime.
So here’s my salute to those who made life for us easier, and a moment of silence to those who died /to our own government/ to stick up for their rights.