Happy Labor Day!

Happy Labor Day Weekend!!

What is Labor Day anyways? Is it just an extended holiday so people do not have to be paid? Or is it just the day that symbolizes the line of not being allowed to wear white anymore? Or is it just a stunt made by department stores to make you a "great deal" with "30% off everything in store"?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Labor_Day_New_York_1882.jpg

According to the U.S Department of labor, "Labor Day, the first Monday of every September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country".

So it is basically a day celebrating the working class!

This picture is an illustration of the first ever Labor Day Parade in New York, in September of 1882. On this day, 10,000 workers took unpaid leave and marched into Wendel's Elm Park for a concert, picnic, and speeches. This whole day had been orchestrated by the Central Labor Union. Then, by 1885, Labor Day was celebrated in many of the industrial centers of the U.S.! Finally, in 1894, this day officially became a national holiday (even though almost half of the country was already celebrating it).

This is day is well deserved, at least according to July of 2014, because about 156 million Americans are in the civilian labor force! Can you even imagine living in 1880, when the typical working American hours were 12-hours, and they worked 7-days a week! Even children 5-6 years old were working in factories.

Thank God we have unions and laws now to protect that 156 million of us Americans who work civil working jobs!

Hope this helped you understand the history to this holiday!

'Til Next Time!