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While many in today's America view this National Holiday as simply the last chance to party this summer, myself and a very large number of my fellows view it as way to honor the working class hero's that have made America the great and powerful industrialized nation that it is.
The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883. In 1887 the states of Oregon, Colorado, New York, Massachusetts, and New Jersey recognized it as a holiday. It became a National Holiday in 1894.
While slave labor had been outlawed some 30 years prior, 10 and 12 hour days 6 and 7 days a week under unsafe working conditions at next to nothing wages was still the order of the day. What started as a 'We're taking a day off and there's not a d*mn thing you can do to stop us." quickly became one of the most important days of the year for all those involved in securing better wages and conditions for the working class.
A new poll released last week by Peter D. Hart Research Associates, and paid for by the AFL-CIO, found that the biggest concerns of workers between the ages of 18 and 34 are wages not keeping pace with the cost of living, not having enough time for their families and not being able to afford the costs of their children's college education. What concerned mostly the lower class (there was no middle class) a hundred years ago still concerns us today.
So as you enjoy your day off, stop for a moment to remember those who fought and died along the way to bring you weekends off, safe workplaces, and decent wages.
God Bless America, and God Bless The American Labor Movement.
The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883. In 1887 the states of Oregon, Colorado, New York, Massachusetts, and New Jersey recognized it as a holiday. It became a National Holiday in 1894.
While slave labor had been outlawed some 30 years prior, 10 and 12 hour days 6 and 7 days a week under unsafe working conditions at next to nothing wages was still the order of the day. What started as a 'We're taking a day off and there's not a d*mn thing you can do to stop us." quickly became one of the most important days of the year for all those involved in securing better wages and conditions for the working class.
A new poll released last week by Peter D. Hart Research Associates, and paid for by the AFL-CIO, found that the biggest concerns of workers between the ages of 18 and 34 are wages not keeping pace with the cost of living, not having enough time for their families and not being able to afford the costs of their children's college education. What concerned mostly the lower class (there was no middle class) a hundred years ago still concerns us today.
So as you enjoy your day off, stop for a moment to remember those who fought and died along the way to bring you weekends off, safe workplaces, and decent wages.
God Bless America, and God Bless The American Labor Movement.
