When Is Labor Day?
Ah, Labor Day weekend, that last hurrah before school starts back, when everyone’s off of work except the lifeguards at the pools, which are still open for the few final hours of summer. It’s funny that no one works on a day called “Labor Day.” Shouldn’t that be the one day of the year when everyone does work? Keep dreaming, and just enjoy the one day you get.
Since 1884, Labor Day has been celebrated on the first Monday in September. This means that the date of Labor Day changes each year. The dates of Labor Day for the years 2011 through 2015 are as follows:
- September 5, 2011
- September 3, 2012
- September 2, 2013
- September 1, 2014
- September 7, 2015
Ways to Celebrate Labor Day
Traditionally, Labor Day is celebrated with picnics and parades just like it was on the first Labor Day in 1882.
Because it’s a federal holiday, most people do not have to go to work on Labor Day, and because it’s always on a Monday, that means a long weekend. Many people take advantage of the extra day off by going to the beach or to a resort or theme park that will be closing for the off-season.
What Is Labor Day
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Labor Day is a day
“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.”
It is a day of rest for the nation’s workforce, and a day of appreciation for their efforts.
Labor Day is also the unofficial end of summer and the last day many seasonal attractions are open for business until the following spring.
How Labor Day Started
Labor Day started in 1882 when the Central Labor Union in New York held a street parade and a picnic.
No one is 100% sure who first suggested the idea of Labor Day. It was either Peter J. McGuire, a New York carpenter and general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners or Matthew Maguire, a machinist from New Jersey.
What we do know is that on September 5, 1882, the Central Labor Union celebrated the first Labor Day. They did it again in 1883, and by 1884, the Central Labor Union had begun a campaign to get similar organizations in other cities to celebrate Labor Day as well.
The idea caught on quickly with 1885 seeing Labor Day celebrated in industrial centers across the country. In that year and the year following, cities began to pass municipal ordinances recognizing Labor Day as a holiday. From there, states began to pass similar legislation.
Oregon was the first state to pass a law recognizing Labor Day, but by the end of the 1880s, seven other states also had their own official Labor Days.
In 1894, there were 44 states in the United States, and 30 of them had passed laws to make Labor Day a holiday, so on June 28, 1894, Congress decided to go ahead and make it a federal holiday. They passed an act that made the first Monday in September a legal holiday in all U.S. territories, including the states and the District of Columbia.
Remember the Reason for the Holiday
No matter how you choose to celebrate Labor Day, be sure to give thanks for the American workforce that drives the economy and makes our country great, and for the Central Labor Union, which saw fit to do the same.