Happy Labor Day! This day doesn't
just mark the end of summer-it commemorates an important American
tradition: working people coming together and speaking out to make their
lives better on the job.
Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor
movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of
American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the
contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and
well-being of our country.
We all want to make the most of
the work we do-and Labor Day is a day to remember that, whether the
challenges we face are big or small, we have the power to take them on
and make it better.
More than 100 years after the first Labor Day observance, there is still
some doubt as to who first proposed the holiday for workers.
In 1884 the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday, as originally proposed, and the Central Labor Union urged similar organizations in other cities to follow the example of New York and celebrate a “workingmen’s holiday” on that date. The idea spread with the growth of labor organizations, and in 1885 Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers of the country.
Through the years the nation gave increasing emphasis to Labor Day. The
first governmental recognition came through municipal ordinances passed
during 1885 and 1886. From them developed the movement to secure state
legislation. The first state bill was introduced into the New York
legislature, but the first to become law was passed by Oregon on
February 21, 1887. During the year four more states — Colorado,
Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York — created the Labor Day holiday
by legislative enactment. By the end of the decade Connecticut,
Nebraska, and Pennsylvania had followed suit. By 1894, 23 other states
had adopted the holiday in honor of workers, and on June 28 of that
year, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of
each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the
territories.
The form that the observance and celebration of Labor Day should take
were outlined in the first proposal of the holiday — a street parade to
exhibit to the public “the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and
labor organizations” of the community, followed by a festival for the
recreation and amusement of the workers and their families. This became
the pattern for the celebrations of Labor Day. Speeches by prominent men
and women were introduced later, as more emphasis was placed upon the
economic and civic significance of the holiday. Still later, by a
resolution of the American Federation of Labor convention of 1909, the
Sunday preceding Labor Day was adopted as Labor Sunday and dedicated to
the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement.
The character of the Labor Day celebration has undergone a change in
recent years, especially in large industrial centers where mass displays
and huge parades have proved a problem. This change, however, is more a
shift in emphasis and medium of expression. Labor Day addresses by
leading union officials, industrialists, educators, clerics and
government officials are given wide coverage in newspapers, radio, and
television.
The vital force of labor added materially to the highest standard of living and the greatest production the world has ever known and has brought us closer to the realization of our traditional ideals of economic and political democracy. It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation pay tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation’s strength, freedom, and leadership — the American worker.
