Labor Logic

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John D. Finerty, Jr.

The labor movement has seen more than a few changes in the last 12 months. For example, at this summer’s AFL-CIO convention, a number of important labor organizations, including the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, announced their decision to withdraw from the federation.

This was, undoubtedly, a set back for the largest association of labor organizations in the country that has been, for the most part, united since the 1950s. The mechanics’ strike at Northwest Airlines may also be reaching a turning point as the company considers making replacement workers permanent.

On the positive side for organized labor, the union movement remains strong in the public sector and has, for the most part, managed to off-set the loss of union jobs in the private sector to stabilize the percentage of union jobs that has been on the decline for decades. With those recent developments in mind, we look back at the origins of Labor Day.

The First Labor Day

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Labor Day "constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our County." The Labor Department documented the first Labor Day holiday as Tuesday, September 5, 1882 in New York City. New York’s Central Labor Union held the first and second Labor Day celebrations. Within 10 years, 23 states had enacted legislation to observe Labor Day in honor of the American worker. Today, it is a national holiday.

It remains a subject of dispute as to who founded the Labor Day holiday. According to the Department of Labor, some records show that Peter J. McGuire founded Labor Day. He was the General Secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, and a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor.

Other records, again according to the Department of Labor, show that Matthew McGuire founded the holiday. Matthew McGuire was the Secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinist in Patterson, New Jersey. He proposed to the Central Labor Union in 1882 a demonstration and picnic to commemorate the Labor Day holiday.

Labor Day Origins Closer to Home

President Grover Cleveland signed federal legislation in 1894 that created a federal Labor Day holiday. The legislation was passed on behalf of organized labor following the Pullman Railcar strike of 1894 in Illinois. That infamous strike protested layoffs, wage cuts and the cost of living in a company town named Pullman, Illinois. Eugene Debs of the American Railway Union led the strike.

Pullman, Illinois was a company town founded by the President of the Pullman Railroad Car Company, George Pullman. Those who lived in Pullman, Illinois worked for the Pullman Company. They also had their paychecks deposited on the Pullman Bank, after the Pullman Company deducted rent that was also set by Pullman. The Company operated Pullman, Illinois successfully for more than a decade, but when a nationwide economic downturn hit Illinois, Pullman Company laid off employees and cut wages but did not reduce rents. A strike ensued.

Eugene Debs led the striking America Railway Union in a violent strike that included rioting and destruction to the company town and burning of railcars. In response, President Cleveland deployed over 10,000 troops to control the strike. Violence continued, however, and U.S. Marshals who fired on protesters in Kensington, Illinois near Chicago killed two striking workers.

On Aug. 3, 1894, the strike ended, Debs was arrested and sent to prison and the Railway Union disbanded. Organized labor in other cities including New York, staged demonstrations to protest President Cleveland’s strike breaking tactics. As 1896 was an election year, President Cleveland used the Labor Day holiday as an opportunity to appease organized labor. In fact, President Cleveland signed the Labor Day legislation six days after the Pullman strike ended. Cleveland’s party, however, deserted him and nominated William Jennings Bryan for President in 1896.

For more information on Labor Day or on organized labor in general, consult the U.S. Department of Labor’s website or the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s website.