The roots of Labor Day originated during one of American labor history’s most dismal chapters, in the late 1800s, at the height of the Industrial Revolution.
Working Conditions
This website gives some of the details. The average American worked 12-hour days and seven-day weeks just for a basic living. Children as young as five and six worked in mills, factories and mines earning a fraction of an adult’s wages.
Conditions were worse for the very poor and for recent immigrants. They were forced to work in unsafe conditions, often without access to fresh air, sanitary facilities and breaks.
Manufacturing was becoming the mainstay of America, pushing agriculture to second place, and labor unions were growing more prominent. They organized strikes and rallies to protest poor working conditions, and to compel employers to renegotiate hours and pay.
Violence And New Traditions
If you want information on one of the more violent clashes, research the Haymarket Riot of 1886, in which several Chicago policemen and workers were killed.
For information on how the tradition of Labor Day began, research the first Labor Day parade in U.S. history on September 5, 1882.
For a marriage of the two, look into the Pullman strike of 1884. The strike crippled railroad traffic around the nation and resulted in a wave of riots and the deaths of more than a dozen workers.
The Creation Of Labor Day
President Grover Cleveland made Labor Day a legal holiday in June of 1894 in an attempt to repair ties with American workers, and probably with the encouragement of one or two labor leaders. While we still celebrate the day, some wonder if the day means little more than the end of summer.
Labor Day is still celebrated in cities and towns across the United States with parades, picnics, barbecues, fireworks displays and other public gatherings. For many Americans, though, particularly children and young adults, it represents the end of the summer and the start of the back-to-school season.
Labor Day Has Lost Its Meaning
Today, it’s hard to find references to Labor Day for anything other than a sale. And the fact that Labor Day, which was meant to honor workers and what they accomplished together through organizing, now forces those lowest paid workers to labor long, hard hours in retail and service industries. And perish the thought, in these political times, that any mention of organized labor be made in the celebration of the holiday.
From the beginnings of the labor movement, workers fought for fair wages and improved working conditions. They did nothing less than transform American society. They ended child labor, fought for eight-hour workdays, fought for the New Deal. The New Deal led to Social Security and unemployment insurance. Through sacrifices made during World War II, unions pushed for Great Society legislation, leading to Medicare and the Civil Rights Act.
This day, more than any other, we should those who made it possible for us to reach for the fabled “American Dream.”
In Closing
This day, more than any other, we should those who made it possible for us to reach for the fabled “American Dream.”