20 Facts about Labor Day

1. Labor day originally began in Canada
2. The first Labor Day (in the US) was celebrated September 5, 1882 in New York City
3. However, Oregon was the first state to make Labor Day an official holiday
4. On June 28, 1894, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.
5. Celebrates the achievements and contributions of the men and women in the US workforce
6. In the late 1800s the average American worked 12-hour days and seven-day weeks to eke out a basic living.
7. The year in which the 8-hour day was firmly established was 1916 with the passage of the Adamson Act.
8. Traditionally people did not wear white or seersucker clothes after Labor Day as it unofficially marked the end of summer.
9. Football season starts around Labor Day
10. Labor Day is viewed as the unofficial last day of vacation before the start of the new school year
11. First Labor Day activities consisted of speeches and picnics
12. Labor Day was created around the era of the Industrial Revolution
13. During the Industrial Revolution, people of all ages, particularly the very poor and recent immigrants, often faced extremely unsafe working conditions, with insufficient access to fresh air, sanitary facilities and breaks.
14. Manufacturing increased
15. Jobs such as agriculture and labor unions become more prominent
16. Congress would not legalize the holiday until 12 years later, when a watershed moment in American labor history brought workers’ rights squarely into the public’s view.
17. On May 11, 1894, employees of the Pullman Palace Car Company in Chicago went on strike to protest wage cuts
18. The exact founder of Labor Day still has yet to be identified
19. Until Labor Day became a federal holiday in 1894, laborers who chose to participate in parades had to forfeit a day's wages
20. For many Americans, particularly children and young adults, it represents the end of the summer and the start of the back-to-school season.

Labor Day Facts History.com
 
Labor Day Facts DoSomething.org

10 Facts