Wednesday, August 27, 2003
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Wednesday, August 27, 2003 |
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How Labor Day got its start By MICHAEL
BOYLAN Labor Day will be celebrated this weekend with the official holiday being marked Monday, Sept. 1. Though it started as a celebration of labor unions, it is now more commonly known as a three-day weekend marking the end of summer. I'm sure everyone has big plans for the weekend, probably including a large dose of college football viewing and the consumption of grilled food and cold beverages. There may even be some short road trips in your immediate future, but chances are you won't be celebrating it like your ancestors, who were around when the holiday originated, did. Since its inception over a 100 years ago, many people have forgotten the origins, if they ever knew them, and have had the holiday defined by other traditions. Labor Day started in 1882 when the Knights of Labor had a parade in New York. In two years it grew to a large parade and celebration held in New York City and was held on the first Monday in September. Within three years, Massachusetts, Oregon, Colorado, New York and New Jersey had made Labor Day a state holiday and began urging the federal government to make it a federal holiday. There was no movement on this until 1894, which just happened to be an election year. In 1894, the union that worked at the Pullman company, which made trains and train cars, went on strike. Their pay was being reduced and their rent, which was also controlled by the company, remained the same. Seeing this as highly unfair and feeling that if they organized and all stopped working, their demands would be met. The company did not like this and neither did President Grover Cleveland. He sent 12,000 troops in to break up the strike. They were successful and members of the union promised to never unionize again. There is a sort of happy ending, though. Cleveland did not win a lot of fans with his sending in troops to crack the skulls of Americans and get them back to work. Six days after the strike ended, Congress had passed a bill and had it on his desk making Labor Day a national holiday, recognizing the contributions of labor in making this country great and giving everyone a day off. Seeing as it was an election year, Cleveland passed the bill and tried to be the good guy. He was not re-elected but Labor Day was now a national holiday. Over the years, Labor Day has been reduced from a day of parades and impassioned speeches to a day where people have picnics and cookouts with friends and families. It's significance has decreased mainly because there are not as many people in unions anymore. In the 1950s, half of the U.S. working population was in a union and 50 years later that number had shrunk to 15 percent. The U.S. is not alone in celebrating Labor Day though, Canada and Puerto Rico also celebrate the holiday, as does Australia, which calls the day Eight Hour Day, in honor of getting a shorter work day. So, that is the history of Labor Day. When I'm grilling some bratwursts this weekend, I may give some thoughts to the people that fought for this national holiday, raise a glass and thank them for slaving away and helping make this country great. I will also be thankful though that I don't have to go to parades and hear speeches about the working man. I'm glad that they got what they wanted and all, but that's not how I want to spend the last three day weekend of the summer.
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