Labor Day

Labor Day Article

Happy Labor Day to all Boston Carmen's Union members!

Like every generation since Labor Day was first celebrated in the late 1800s, we take this time to honor the American workers who keep our economy moving — and the labor movement that has made a better life possible for all Americans.

Working conditions in 1800s America were grim. People would work 12 hours a day, up to 7 days a week, in unsafe settings. Children, sometimes as young as 5, were forced to work the same long hours for a fraction of the pay. Immigrant workers often faced discrimination on top of these conditions.

Labor unions had already existed since the late 1700s but began to grow more vocal for change. Strikes to protest poor working conditions soon swarmed the nation in the following decades after the Civil War.

Peter J. McGuire, the founder of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, proposed a celebration honoring American workers to the Central Labor Union of New York. As a result, on September 5, 1882, the first Labor Day was celebrated with a parade through the streets of New York City.

McGuire isn't the only person credited as the father of Labor Day. Historians believe Matthew Maguire may have also proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as the secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. Though we may not know who first came up with the idea of Labor Day, we do know that McGuire and Maguire both attended the New York City parade with 10,000 other American workers.

While New York was the first state to hold a celebration, Oregon became the first state to recognize Labor Day as a holiday in 1887 officially. Massachusetts and other states soon followed, establishing the holiday on the first Monday in September.

Workers continued to strike for better conditions. Congress attempted to mend relations with workers by passing a bill making Labor Day a federal holiday, which was signed into law by President Grover Cleveland on June 28, 1894. 128 years later, Labor Day is still celebrated with parades and other festivities as a reminder of the value of the American worker.

As the country's workforce continues to grow and evolve, labor unions will continue to fight for a better quality of life for working families. Unions provide a collective voice and bargaining power. As Labor Day reminds us of the contributions of the American workforce, we are also reminded of the role, and power unions play in the country's workforce.

Boston Carmen’s Union Local 589 50 Federal Street, 9th Floor Boston MA 02110

Union benefits don't stop at the workplace.

When you sign up for Union Plus, Local 589 members get access to even more opportunities to save on their healthcare and prescriptions, higher education, travel, insurance, and more. You can even get discounts on movie tickets and at restaurants.

To learn more, visit UnionPlus.org.