By Brett Cafferty
As we commemorate Labor Day, I decided to revisit the origin and events that led to our national holiday honoring the achievements of American workers during a very difficult period in our history –
At the height of the Industrial Revolution in the late 1800s, many Americans worked 12-hour days in demanding, low paying jobs. Children worked, too, often in harsh and unsafe environments. As manufacturing replaced agriculture as a primary source of employment, labor unions grew more prominent and vocal, leading to formal organization and strikes to protest poor conditions and pay.
On Sept. 5, 1882, union leaders in New York City organized what’s thought to be the first Labor Day parade as 10,000 union members and tradespeople took unpaid time off to “march” from New York’s City Hall to Union Square to request an eight-hour workday, many carrying signs that read “Less Work and More Pay.”
Future events turned violent during this period, including the “Haymarket Incident” that began May 1, 1886, when thousands of Chicago workers took to the streets to demand an eight-hour workday. The demonstration lasted for days, and on May 4, a bomb was set off, killing seven police officers and eight civilians. Now known as “International Workers’ Day,” the May 1 holiday is celebrated in countries across the world.
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. In June, the American Railroad Union (ARU), led by Eugene V. Debs, called for a boycott of all Pullman railway cars, crippling railroad traffic nationwide. Tens of thousands of workers walked off the job.
Days after the ARU joined the Pullman strike, a languishing bill to make Labor Day a national holiday was signed into law by President Grover Cleveland on June 28, 1894. To end the boycott, the National Guard was sent to Chicago and when strikers began to riot, fired into the mob, killing dozens of people.
The Labor Day holiday was viewed as a gesture to repair ties with American workers. In the years that followed, company owners began to accept workers’ demands for better treatment. In 1914, Henry Ford more than doubled wages, and in two years doubled his profits. In 1926, he cut workers’ hours from nine to eight. During the New Deal, the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act limited child labor, set a minimum wage, and mandated a shorter workweek, with overtime pay for longer shifts. By the 1940s, the average workweek had fallen to five eight-hour days.
What we take for granted in our lifetime was fought for and accomplished by the poor and powerless, working together. This Labor Day, let us celebrate the heart and spirit of hope of those who came before us to make a better life and brighter future for their families and ours!