Why do Americans and Canadians celebrate Labor Day Kenneth C. Davis
How’s this for a strange idea:
a day off from work in honor of work itself?
Actually, that is what Labor Day,
celebrated in the United States and Canada
on the first Monday of every September,
is all about.
The first American Labor Day
was celebrated in New York City
on September 5th, 1882,
as thousands of workers and their families
came to Union Square for a day in the park.
It was not a national holiday
but had been organized by a union
to honor workers and their hard efforts
with a rare day of rest,
halfway between July 4th and Thanksgiving.
There were picnics and a parade,
but there were also protests.
The workers had gathered,
not just to rest and celebrate,
but to demand fair wages,
the end of child labor,
and the right to organize into unions.
During the period known as
The Industrial Revolution,
many jobs were difficult, dirty and dangerous.
People worked for twelve hours,
six days a week,
without fringe benefits,
such as vacations, health care and pensions,
and if you were young, chances are
you were doing manual labor
instead of your ABCs and fractions.
Children as young as ten
worked in some of the most hazardous places,
like coal mines or factories filled with boiling vats
or dangerous machines.
Trying to win better pay, shorter hours
and safer conditions
workers had begun to form labor unions
in America and Canada,
but the companies they worked for
often fought hard to keep unions out
and to supress strikes.
At times, this led to violent battles
between workers and business owners
with the owners often backed up by the police,
or even the military.
In the following years,
the idea of Labor Day caught on in America
with official celebrations reaching 30 states.
But then came the violent
Haymarket Square Riot of 1886,
which led to the deaths of several policemen
and workers in Chicago
and the execution of four union leaders.
After that, many labor and political groups
around the world
had begun to mark Haymarket Square on May 1st,
which became known as
International Workers' Day.
In 1894, President Grover Cleveland
signed the law making Labor Day a
federal holiday in America,
only days after he had sent
12,000 soldiers to end
a violent railroad strike
that resulted in the death of several people.
The original September date was kept,
partly to avoid the more radical associations of May 1st.
Canada also created its Labor Day in 1894.
But, in spite of this new holiday,
it would be a long time before the changes
that workers wanted
became a reality.
In 1938, during the Great Depression
that left millions without jobs,
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
signed a law calling for an eight-hour work day,
a five-day work week,
and an end to child labor,
some of the first federal protections for American workers.
As America and Canada celebrate Labor Day,
most of the two countries' children enjoy
a day off from school.
But it is important to remember
that there was a time that
everyday was a labor day for children in America and Canada,
and unfortunately,
the same fact remains true
for millions of children around the world today.