A Brief Look At Labor Day

---

---

Monday is Labor Day, which for most means simply a three-day weekend and the last bit of summer freedom before the new school year starts fully. In actuality, though, the true meaning of Labor Day is far greater with a history steeped in the labor movement that created it.

The first Labor Day celebration was created at the start of the progressive era, and unions, along with guilds and other forms of organized labor, were on the rise. It consisted of a demonstration and picnic held in 1882 in New York City by the Central Labor Union and it wasn’t long before other cities and states adopted Labor Day celebrations of their own. By 1894, 23 of the nation’s 42 states established at that time had organized Labor Day celebrations. It was later that year Congress enacted and proclaimed the first Monday in September as a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the nation’s territories.

In the early years, Labor Day was celebrated with annual street parades led by the local unions and were often then followed by festivals for workers and their families. Many times those celebrations were a time to mark the legislative accomplishments, such as the establishment of the 8-hour workday, the 40-hour workweek, the nation’s first child-labor laws, the establishment of the first national minimum wage, as well as other advances that we take for granted today. The celebration of Labor Day was expanded significantly in 1962 when, by executive order, President John F. Kennedy gave federal employees the right to collective bargaining for the first time.

In short, stealing from the Department of Labor’s definition of Labor Day, on the first Monday in September we take time to celebrate and “to remind all Americans of the contributions the nation’s workers make to the strength, prosperity and well-being of the country.”

We at EZ Rest Mattress Outlet wish all of you a Happy Labor Day!