Have we forgotten the true meaning of Labor Day?

Have we forgotten the true meaning of Labor Day?

What does Labor Day mean to you? It’s a U. S. national holiday celebrated the first Monday in September. It is a unique celebration without the hoopla of decorations and rituals, except for the barbeques and shopping. 

But do you know how, when and why we began to celebrate this day called Labor Day?

The first Labor Day was hardly a national holiday, in fact, workers had to strike to celebrate it. September 5, 1882, New York City, the first Labor Day Parade occurred under the direction of that city’s Central Labor Union. 

The holiday’s founders envisioned something very different from what the day has become. Two things were in the minds of the founders: a means of unifying union workers and a reduction in work time. In the 1880s, unions covered a small fraction of workers who wanted to divide the organization. The goal of organizations like the Central Labor Union and more modern-day counterparts like the AFL-CIO was to bring many small unions together to achieve a critical mass and power. 

Only the organizers had a large problem. No government or company recognized the first Monday in September as a day off of work. This issue was temporarily solved when a one-day strike in the city was declared. It was expected all striking workers were to march in a parade and then eat and drink at a giant picnic afterward.

Labor Day came about because workers felt they spend too many hours and days on the job. In the 1830s, manufacturing workers were averaging 70-hour weeks. Sixty years later in 1890, work hours had dropped, although the average manufacturing worker still labored in a factory 60 hours a week. 

Many union organizers began to focus on and won a shorter eight-hour workday and also got workers more days off, such as the Labor Day holiday, and reducing the workweek to just six days. 

Many politicians and business owners were in favor of giving workers more time off. Only because workers who had no free time could not spend their wages on traveling, entertainment or dining out. 

One of the most common misconceptions of the day is that since Labor Day is a national holiday, everyone gets the day off. Nothing can be further than the truth. In 1887, Oregon, Colorado, Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey all declared a special legal holiday in September to celebrate workers. 

In June 1894 President Grover Cleveland signed the Labor Day bill into law since half the states in the country recognized Labor Day as a holiday.  Proclaiming any day an official holiday means little, as an official holiday does not require private employers and even some government agencies to give their workers this day off. Many retail stores are open, essential government services in protection and transportation continue to function.  

Today most people in the United States consider Labor Day a noncontroversial holiday. There’s no family drama (mostly,) like Thanksgiving, no religious issues like Christmas, although back in the day there was. 

They fought early controversy over how militant workers should act on a day designed to honor workers. More modern trade union members advocated for September Labor Day of parades and picnics. In the U.S., picnics, instead of street protests, won the day.

Although the original holiday meant to handle the problems of working long hours and no time off, were won long ago, this issue is coming back with vengefulness, not for manufacturing workers but for highly skilled white-collar workers who are connected to work.  

Make this year a start of a new ritual for yourself. Shut off your phone, computer, and all electronic devices which keep you connected to your daily grind. Honor the original spirit of Labor Day. Give yourself a day off to enjoy a barbecue just as the original participants did over a century ago, Have at least one day off during the year!

Happy Labor Day!