Labor Day — Not Just Another Day Off Work

by Mitchell Tester, College Student

We all think of Labor Day as getting a day off work on the first Monday of September every year, but what does it really mean?

The first Labor Day occurred on September 5, 1882, in New York City. On that day, 10,000 workers took unpaid time to march from City Hall to Union Square, starting the tradition of Labor Day parades. This was done to celebrate the achievements of American workers and their ability to strive for greatness and hard work. Although the first technical celebration of Labor Day was in 1882 in New York City, it was actually Oregon that became the first state to recognize Labor Day. In 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed it into law as a federal holiday. 

It is an interesting tale as to who first proposed the holiday for workers. Although, two men are most likely responsible for the founder of Labor Day.

The first man, Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and co-founder of American Federation of Labor, was said to suggest that we should have a day for celebrating the laboring class and to honor those “who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold.” (dol.gov).

Recent research, though, leads us to the idea that a man by the name of Matthew Maguire, secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists, proposed the idea for the holiday in 1882 as the secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York.

At any rate, though, no matter who we have to thank for the national holiday, we should all learn to respect and appreciate the working class of America, not only on Labor Day but every day, for it is the working class who built America.