Labor Day

Labor Day is a special holiday in September, set aside in Canada and the United States to honor workers and the contributions that they make to society.

The fight of workers for their rights and dignity is an old one, and its boundaries are by no means those of Western Europe. It's a worldwide demand, and countries such as Canada and the United States also have a rich history of strikes and demonstrations.

The differences between Europe and America are the calendar and politics: in Europe we celebrate May 1st with demonstrations in which political ideas often separate the workers taking part in them, instead of joining them. Our Labour day is in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles between workers and employers; the American Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is just dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity and well-being of the US and Canada.

Ok, this is just philosophy; would you like to know how American workers created their holiday?

In the 19th century, Trade Unions in the United States and Canada were considered dangerous and illegal associations. On April 15, 1872, in Canada, the Toronto Trade Assembly organized the first North American "workingman's demonstration". Some 10,000 people took part in a parade along the streets of Toronto, and to listen to those who were speaking about the abolition of a stupid law which decreed that "trade unions are criminal conspiracies in restraint of trade".

This first demonstration would create the effect of a snow ball: September 3, 1872 : Members of seven unions in Ottawa ( Canada ) organized a parade that stretched for more than a mile long. The parade stopped at the home of Prime Minister Sir John A. MacDonald. They brought him into a carriage and marched to the Ottawa City Hall. The Prime Minister was aware of the discontent of workers with the laws which made unions illegal so he made a declaration: his party would "Sweep away all such barbarous laws from the statute books". These laws were repealed by Parliament later that year and the tradition of holding parades and demonstrations would thence continue.

On July 22, 1882, the Toronto Trade and Labour Council ( the successor to the Toronto Trade Asembly ) organized an annual demonstration. In the same year Matthew Maguire, later secretary of the International Association of Machinists, proposed a Holiday for Labor while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. On September 5, 1882 The Central Labor Union held its first Labor Day holiday in New York City. A second Labor Day was again held a year later on September 5, 1883.

In 1884 the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday and the Central Labor Union urged similar organizations in other cities to also celebrate a "workingmen's holiday" on that date to make it a common holiday for all American workers.

February 21, 1887 - Oregon passed the first Bill to become Law making Labor Day an official holiday. It was the first American State to do so.

June 28, 1894 - The U.S.A. Congress passed an act making the first Monday of September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories including all Federal workers in all states. The individual States still had to discuss their own legislation ( which 31 States had already done by then ) It was just a matter of time to make it a national holiday everywhere in America, and for every worker, federal or not. The Canadian government would do so on July 23, 1894.

Regardless of where, when or by whom Labour Day was started, it is an important holiday which is now celebrated in many different countries. In America, as in the rest of the world, it was born ( not in May but in September ) through the activities of the Trade Unions, and today the Americans still celebrate that date with demonstrations, brass bands ... and picnics.