Labor Day in 2023 is probably more synonymous with BBQs, a day off work, sleeping in, and enjoying one last blowout before summer ends than what it’s original meaning was associated with. The day’s of dangerous involvement in collective bargaining and visible union membership are long gone, but it was those efforts that made the work day livable and reasonable for so many generations afterwards.
The first U.S. Labor Day occurred in 1882. It was established by the Central Labor Union in New York City versus being a government official holiday. At that time, labor unions were still a bit of a novel idea. Those that existed where pseudo political in nature, more like loose fraternal societies and excuse to smoke and drink versus active engagement with company management. When the Central Labor Union got involved, it sought to consolidate the various small pockets and bring them together in numbers. So, the first Labor Day organization was really about union solidarity across groups, leveraging strength by adding to brotherhood.
Again, however, the initial Monday in September wasn’t a recognized holiday by anyone official. So, the first Labor Day was really a one-day temporary work strike across New York City. Instead of going to work, union members focused on a parade down a main street, eating and focusing on union goals. Reporters that attended basically described the affair as a cookout where the food and drink were far more interesting than the union speeches.
However, even having a day off in September was a big deal. The typical work-week for a factory employee was a grueling 60-hour work sprint. And this was down from 70 hours 60 years earlier. Literally, the only day a factory worker wasn’t on the job was on Sunday for church.
The grind of working every waking hour ultimately contributed to the growth of collective bargaining the symbolism of Labor Day, just trying to get the workweek down to a clean 6 days.
There were other interests in seeing less time on the clock. Politicians realized quickly that when people had downtime, they could easily be leveraged into assets for campaigns and political activism. Business owners also realized the value in that the more people had time off, the more they spent on entertainment which benefitted local small businesses immensely. So, the idea of a Labor Day movement gained traction, especially for representing a better work-life balance.
The actual holiday treatment of Labor Day, however, took a bit of time to sink in. While a few states gave a special day to recognize workers in general, Congress’ action and President Cleveland’s signature of Labor Day as a holiday in 1894 only applied to federal employees. Oops. That said, the precedent was set, and by 1900 half the states recognized Labor in some form, ranging from a full holiday to an official day of recognition.
By the 1980s and 1990s, almost a century later, the idea of Labor created an identity conflict in the U.S. On the one hand, many felt that Labor Day was the epitome of a call for labor activism, especially after the 1980s and President Reagan’s active anti-union rhetoric and actions. On the other hand, the rise in American nationalism, especially by the early 2000s after 9/11 triggered the old slogans of anti-Communism and that unions were just harbingers of anti-American socialist propaganda (keep in mind, this is all ironic given that the U.S. was actually established through a violent revolution, the essence of being anti-establishment and anti-monarchy). However, by the mid-2000s, though, unions have weekend horribly and Labor Day was diminished to an excuse for a BBQ blowout in the BBQ before the Fall weather kicks in.
Unions are almost non-existent in most industries in the U.S. today. The major groups that remain consistent of autoworkers, health workers, government workers, and train workers. Much of the strength from the infamous AFL-CIO days in the 1960s and 70s disappeared with the closure of factories and offshoring of the same. So, it’s pretty easy to find some 8 out of 10 people now who have no idea what Labor Day really stands for aside from another national holiday in the U.S., and the mark of the end of summer.
However, some of the same dynamics are developing again with people working night and day and every weekend, instability in future outlook financially, inflation, growing gaps between the rich and everyone else, and companies lowering wages. Labor Day might actually get very interesting if these trends continue, especially with new generations entering the work force and finding there’s no real promise for them in a glutted market.
