Picnics, parades and barbeques— that’s what Labor Day means to most Americans. But this long-celebrated holiday has an even longer and more complicated meaning involving the rights that it stands for, and those who fought for its existence.
1882. The origins of America’s version of Labor Day are still widely debated. One story has the concept being invented at a Knights of Labor assembly in New York City in 1882, proposed by CLU secretary Matthew Maguire. Another story has Peter J. McGuire, vice president of the American Federation of Labor, being inspired to suggest a holiday stateside after seeing parades celebrating labor in Canada that year. These different accounts have led to descendants of both McGuire and Maguire (say that three times fast) claiming their ancestor was the “father” of Labor Day.
The first Labor Day parade was held in Lower Manhattan on September 5, 1882. The day almost turned into a disaster as the parade had few marchers and no music at the scheduled 10am start time. The sudden arrival of 200 additional participants and a band (along with the aforementioned Matthew Maguire) meant that the parade would go on as planned. As the event progressed, the crowd grew as spectators joined the march. By the end, reports estimated that over 10,000 people attended.
1886. The American Federation of Labor passed a resolution calling for an eight-hour work day effective May 1. Coordinated strikes helped enforce this demand. This led to some advocating for May 1, May Day, to be considered as an alternative date celebrating labor called International Workers’ Day. The fact that the date proved to be so close to the May 4, 1886 Haymarket Square Riot in Chicago made May 1 a controversial option.
1887. Oregon became the first state to officially recognize Labor Day as a public holiday. Over 20 states followed suit in the next seven years.
1894. Following a deadly event at the Pullman Railcar Strike in Illinois, President Grover Cleveland signed a bill officially recognizing the first Monday in September as a federal holiday called Labor Day. The catch: It only applied to federal employees. It was still up to the individual states to declare their own legal holidays. All 50 states and US territories subsequently recognized Labor Day as a statutory holiday.
1909. A resolution by the American Federation of Labor convention recognized the Sunday before Labor Day as a time dedicated to the “spiritual and educational aspects” of the labor movement, called “Labor Sunday.” This proved to have less longstanding recognition than Labor Day itself, though it is still recognized in some religious institutions.
1930s. Union workers are encouraged to go on one-day strikes on the first day in September if their employers refuse to give them the day off of work.
