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September 2, 2021

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Updated:Aug 30, 2021Original:Apr 13, 2010


LABOR DAY 2021

Author:History.com Editors

Silver V/Getty Images

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CONTENTS

 1. Why Do We Celebrate Labor Day?
 2. Who Created Labor Day?
 3. Labor Day Celebrations
 4. Holidays That Fall on Mondays
 5. Photo Galleries

Labor Day 2021 will occur on Monday, September 6. Labor Day pays tribute to the
contributions and achievements of American workers and is traditionally observed
on the first Monday in September. It was created by the labor movement in the
late 19th century and became a federal holiday in 1894. Labor Day weekend also
symbolizes the end of summer for many Americans, and is celebrated with parties,
street parades and athletic events.


WHY DO WE CELEBRATE LABOR DAY?

Labor Day, an annual celebration of workers and their achievements, originated
during one of American labor history’s most dismal chapters.



In the late 1800s, at the height of the Industrial Revolution in the United
States, the average American worked 12-hour days and seven-day weeks in order to
eke out a basic living. Despite restrictions in some states, children as young
as 5 or 6 toiled in mills, factories and mines across the country, earning a
fraction of their adult counterparts’ wages.

People of all ages, particularly the very poor and recent immigrants, often
faced extremely unsafe working conditions, with insufficient access to fresh
air, sanitary facilities and breaks.



As manufacturing increasingly supplanted agriculture as the wellspring of
American employment, labor unions, which had first appeared in the late 18th
century, grew more prominent and vocal. They began organizing strikes and
rallies to protest poor conditions and compel employers to renegotiate hours and
pay.





READ MORE: How a Deadly Railroad Strike Led to the Labor Day Holiday

Many of these events turned violent during this period, including the infamous
Haymarket Riot of 1886, in which several Chicago policemen and workers were
killed. Others gave rise to longstanding traditions: On September 5, 1882,
10,000 workers took unpaid time off to march from City Hall to Union Square in
New York City, holding the first Labor Day parade in U.S. history.



The idea of a “workingmen’s holiday,” celebrated on the first Monday in
September, caught on in other industrial centers across the country, and many
states passed legislation recognizing it. Congress would not legalize the
holiday until 12 years later, when a watershed moment in American labor history
brought workers’ rights squarely into the public’s view. On May 11, 1894,
employees of the Pullman Palace Car Company in Chicago went on strike to protest
wage cuts and the firing of union representatives.


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THE WORLD TRADE CENTER, BY THE NUMBERS

On June 26, the American Railroad Union, led by Eugene V. Debs, called for a
boycott of all Pullman railway cars, crippling railroad traffic nationwide. To
break the Pullman strike, the federal government dispatched troops to Chicago,
unleashing a wave of riots that resulted in the deaths of more than a dozen
workers.




WHO CREATED LABOR DAY?

In the wake of this massive unrest and in an attempt to repair ties with
American workers, Congress passed an act making Labor Day a legal holiday in the
District of Columbia and the territories. On June 28, 1894, President Grover
Cleveland signed it into law. More than a century later, the true founder of
Labor Day has yet to be identified.






Many credit Peter J. McGuire, cofounder of the American Federation of Labor,
while others have suggested that Matthew Maguire, a secretary of the Central
Labor Union, first proposed the holiday.

READ MORE: The Labor Movement


LABOR DAY CELEBRATIONS

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, particularly children and young adults, it represents the end of
the summer and the start of the back-to-school season.


HOLIDAYS THAT FALL ON MONDAYS

The Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1968 changed several holidays to ensure they
would always be observed on Mondays so that federal employees could have more
three-day weekends. The Act, signed into law on June 28, 1968, moved
Washington’s Birthday Memorial Day, and Columbus Day to fixed Mondays each year.

Labor Day is in good company; other holidays that always fall on Mondays
include:

 * Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 
 * George Washington’s Birthday (or “President’s Day”) 
 * Memorial Day 
 * Columbus Day 


PHOTO GALLERIES


LABOR DAY


13
Gallery
13 Images





CITATION INFORMATION


ARTICLE TITLE

Labor Day 2021


AUTHOR

HISTORY.COM EDITORS


WEBSITE NAME

HISTORY


URL

https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/labor-day-1


ACCESS DATE

September 2, 2021


PUBLISHER

A&E Television Networks


LAST UPDATED

August 30, 2021


ORIGINAL PUBLISHED DATE

April 13, 2010

Tagsterms:Labor Day
By
History.com Editors
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FACT CHECK: WE STRIVE FOR ACCURACY AND FAIRNESS. BUT IF YOU SEE SOMETHING THAT
DOESN'T LOOK RIGHT, CLICK HERE TO CONTACT US!

VIDEOS


LABOR DAY'S RAILROAD STRIKE ROOTS




LABOR MOVEMENT




CHILD LABOR




FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT'S 1941 LABOR DAY SPEECH

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