Labour Day pictories and other public gatherings often included speeches by prominent union leaders. [13] Labor Day, an annual celebration of workers and their achievements, emerged in one of the darkest chapters in American labor history. The first recordings of Labour Day date back to the late 1880s. A day to commemorate workers and fight for workers` rights and decent working conditions was first proposed in the 1800s. In the late 1880s, May 1 was chosen to commemorate the workers` protests in Chicago`s Haymarket Square in 1886. At that time, workers went on strike to demand an eight-hour day. In what became known as the Haymarket riot or Haymarket case, police killed several protesters and a bomb was thrown at police. Although the person behind the attack was never identified, some anarchist organizers were arrested and sentenced to death for the incident. Speeches by prominent men and women were introduced later, as emphasis was placed on the economic and civic importance of the holiday. Even later, by a resolution of the American Federation of Labor Convention of 1909, the Sunday before Labor Day was adopted as Labor Sunday and dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement. After large strikes and demonstrations, leaders were often arrested for political reasons. For example, after the Haymarket incident, dozens of foreign-born radicals and union organizers were arrested by police in Chicago and elsewhere.
Eight men, described as anarchists, were convicted in a trial that presented no evidence linking the defendants to the attack. Seven of the men were sentenced to death and four hanged. They were among the many people who were unjustly tried and executed in order to curb the growing workers` movement and rid it of radical leaders. In the United States, the holiday known as Labor Day became a federal holiday in 1894. May 1 was celebrated in honor of the labor movement prior to that date, but President Grover Cleveland is credited with promoting the move to the first Monday in September to distance the day from its anarchist and socialist origins. Joshua Freeman, a labor historian and professor emeritus at the City University of New York, told CNN that the party grew as unions began to strengthen after the recession of the 1870s. Beginning in the late 19th century, as the labour and labour movement grew, different groups of trade unionists chose a variety of days on which work was celebrated. In the United States, a September holiday called Labor Day was first proposed in the early 1880s.
During the New Deal, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 limited child labor, set a minimum wage, and imposed a shorter workweek with overtime pay for longer shifts. By the 1940s, the average workweek had fallen to five eight-hour days. Labour Day was seen as a gesture of conciliation towards work and became the least radical alternative to International Workers` Day. In the years that followed, the owners of the company began to accept workers` demands for better treatment. In 1914, Henry Ford doubled his salary to $5 a day. As his profits doubled in two years, his rivals realized he might encounter something. In 1926, he reduced the working time of workers from nine to eight. Interesting facts What`s older: Labour Day or the Ministry of Labour? Refresh the details of the birth so you can dazzle your friends and family.
As manufacturing increasingly displaced agriculture as a source of employment in the United States, unions first appeared in the late 18th century became larger and louder. They began organizing strikes and rallies to protest poor conditions and force employers to renegotiate working hours and wages. At first, “it was a little daring to participate because you could get fired,” Freedman said. But over time, states began to recognize the holiday, and it became more common for employers to give their employees the day off. Labor Day was first celebrated unofficially by labor activists and individual states in the late 1800s, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. New York was the first state to introduce a Labor Day law, but Oregon was the first to codify it in 1887. Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York followed in late 1887. The idea of a “Workers` Day” celebrated on the first Monday in September has taken root in other industrial centers across the country, and many states have passed laws recognizing it. Congress didn`t legalize the holiday until 12 years later, when a turning point in U.S.
labor history brought workers` rights directly into the public eye. On May 11, 1894, workers at Chicago`s Pullman Palace Car Company went on strike to protest wage cuts and the firing of union representatives. An alternative theory claims that the idea of Labor Day was Peter J.`s brainstorming.