As we prepare to throw our final hot dogs of the season on the grill this Labor Day weekend, marking the unofficial end of summer, it is worth remembering (or learning) the reason for the holiday. Long before the burgers, brews, and football, Labor Day was created to educate citizens about the labor movement.
According to the United States Department of Labor, conflicting reports cite either of two individuals as the founder of Labor Day. The first, Peter McGuire, was general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor. He suggested the holiday as a day to honor those “who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold.” Others say Matthew Maguire (no relation to Peter), a machinist who later became secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, proposed the holiday in 1882 while he was secretary of New York City’s Central Labor Union.
The first recognized Labor Day took place on September 5, 1882 in New York City, planned by the Central Labor Union as a public demonstration and picnic. A parade ended at Reservoir Park, and while some returned to work, others held a post-parade party at Wendel’s Elm Park on 92nd Street and Ninth Avenue. There, 25,000 union members and their families celebrated into the evening.
According to the Department of Labor, festivities included, “speeches, a picnic, an abundance of cigars, and ‘Lager beer kegs... mounted in every conceivable place.’” It soon developed into a national holiday and a celebration of the American worker. The first municipal ordinances acknowledging the holiday passed in 1885, and state legislation soon followed. New York was the first to introduce a Labor Day bill, but Oregon was first to pass one in 1887. Four more states, including New Jersey, followed that same year. By 1894, nearly half the country, 23 states, had adopted the Labor Day holiday. Later in 1894, Congress declared it a federal holiday.
Labor Day is now held annually on the first Monday of September and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. According to the Department of Labor, “it constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.”
According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 14 million members of unions in 2021. That is a drop of 241,000 people from the previous year, and a nearly four million member drop since union data was first recorded in 1983 at 17.7 million. As the types of available jobs keep changing and organized labor continues to struggle in our country, it is certainly worth taking a moment to reflect on the history of the American worker.
To all of our readers, have a safe and happy Labor Day weekend.
