Labor Day

 Enjoy Your Labor Day Cookout!

What Does Labor Day Celebrate?

The History of Labor Day and Why we Celebrate It

BY RANDY DUERMYER

When you think of Labor Day, what comes to mind? For many, it's the last long weekend before school starts. It's a weekend with picnics and barbecues, and maybe a parade. For some, it's the start of the fall season and anticipation of football. Like many other holidays, Americans enjoy the day off from work but have lost sight of what it was originally created to celebrate.

Whether you work in a job or run a home business, Labor Day was created to honor and celebrate the social and economic achievements of American workers.

Origin of Labor Day

There is a dispute about who originally thought of the idea of an annual Labor Day observance. According to the Department of Labor, two men are put forward as the originators of the idea.

One is Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, and a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor. Another possible originator was Matthew Maguire, a machinist, who later became the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J.

Labor Day was first celebrated by local municipalities and states before becoming a national holiday. The first Labor Day was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, according to the Department of Labor.

It was organized by the New York Central Labor Union, which was made of several labor unions coming together to work toward better working conditions. The second Labor Day followed a year later, on September 5, 1883.

Labor Day wasn't part of a three-day weekend until 1884 when the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday, as originally proposed by the Central Labor Union, which encouraged other cities and states to honor workers as well. From 1885 to 1894, 32 states passed bills to adopt a day to honor workers.

On June 28, 1894, Congress passed the act establishing the first Monday in September as a legal national Labor Day holiday.