On the first Monday of September the USA celebrates Labor Day, this day is to celebrate hard-working men and women, but the holiday would not exist without the people who demanded fair working conditions and hours and fought for a well-deserved break from their labor.
Work life in the 1800s
Working was a lot different in the 1800s compared to the modern day. Instead of working at an office or at a fast food restaurant, most people in the 1800s toiled in coal mines, slaughter houses, building railroads, but the most common one involved working in a huge factory. In these factories, workers mass produced goods such as: clothing, canned foods, clocks, and tin ware.
These huge factories needed people to operate machines to mass produce these goods, but they had horrible working conditions because there were no laws at the time to protect workers. As said in an article called Working Conditions and Child Labor in the Late 1800s and Early 1900s, “Owners spent little money to improve the safety and comfort of their workers. Since there were no laws protecting workers, owners took no responsibility for employees who got hurt or sick on the job.” This wasn’t all though, workers also had to work long shifts, sometimes 12-hour-long shifts. These jobs did not pay well, and most common workers were only making a dollar an hour which was not enough for the workers to support themselves or their families.
The first Labor Day
On September 5th, 1882 New York City celebrated the first labor day. Nearly 10,000 people took an unpaid leave of absence and walked around the city. They had a band following them and most people had signs. From The First Labor Day, an article by Chris Mahin, “The parade was filled with banners: “Labor Built the Republic – Labor Shall Rule It;” “To the Workers Should Belong the Wealth;” “Down with the Competitive System;” “Down with Convict Contract Labor;” “Down with the Railroad Monopoly;” and “Children in School, Not in Factories.” The city-wide parade gave the working class a chance to make a change by demanding better working conditions.
Now an annual event in NYC, thousands of people attend every year. According to Spectrum News 1, “Hundreds of labor organizations and unions across the city will gather Saturday in midtown to kick off the annual Labor Day Parade. Around 80,000 marchers attended last year, the first one to take place after the pandemic.”
How Labor Day became official
In 1894, President Grover Cleveland passed a law making Labor Day a national holiday on the first Monday of September every year. All American citizens get off work and school to celebrate this holiday. However some historians speculate that the president only made it a holiday to end a railroad industry workers strike called the Pullman Strike and to get more votes. The New York Times states, “It had started when the Pullman Palace Car Company lowered wages without lowering rents in the company town, also called Pullman. When angry workers complained, the owner, George Pullman, had them fired. They decided to strike, and other workers for the American Railway Union, led by the firebrand activist Eugene V. Debs, joined the action. They refused to handle Pullman cars, bringing freight and passenger traffic to a halt around Chicago. Tens of thousands of workers walked off the job… During the crisis, President Grover Cleveland signed a bill into law on June 28, 1894, declaring Labor Day a national holiday. Some historians say he was afraid of losing the support of working-class voters.”
Labor day now
Labor day has become a well known holiday that many people look forward to and celebrate. Every year, people have huge parades. beach trips, barbeques, and a host of other parties to rejoice. Retail stores have sales, mattress prices go down, and car prices are cheaper. Labor day has even branched out and inspired other countries to have their very own holiday. But behind the celebrations, the holiday is truly about honoring the hard working people who helped make America the country it is today.
