THE HISTORY OF LABOR DAY

The earliest large Labor Day celebration in the United States was viewed on September 5, 1882, by the Central Labor Union of New York. The Central Labor Union of New York, Brooklyn & New Jersey was an early trade union organization that later broke up into different locals, which are now AFL-CIO members  AFL-CIO (The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations), is a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions in the United States made up of 56 national & international unions, together representing more than 11 million workers. The Labor Day celebration was first planned by Peter J. McGuire of the American Federation of Labor in May of 1882.

Oregon was the first state to make it a holiday in 1887. By the time it became a federal holiday in 1894, 30 states formally celebrated Labor Day. Following the deaths of a number of workers at the hands of the U.S. military & U.S. Marshals during the Pullman Strike, which was a nationwide conflict between labor unions & railroads that occurred in the United States in 1894. The conflict began in the town of Pullman, Illinois on May 11 when approximately 3,000 employees of the Pullman Palace Car Company began a wildcat strike in response to recent reductions in wages, bringing traffic west of Chicago to a halt. President Grover Cleveland reconciled with the labor movement fearing further conflict. Legislators made Labor Day a national holiday which was rushed through Congress unanimously & signed into law a mere 6 days after the end of the strike. The September date originally chosen by the CLU of New York & observed by many of the nation's trade unions for the past several years was selected rather than the more widespread International Workers' Day International Workers' Day (also known as May Day) is a celebration of the international labor movement & left-wing movements because Cleveland was concerned that observance of the latter would stir up negative emotions linked to the Haymarket Affair, The Haymarket affair (also known as the Haymarket massacre or Haymarket riot) was a demonstration and unrest that took place on Tuesday May 4, 1886, at the Haymarket Square in Chicago. It began as a rally in support of striking workers. An unknown person threw a dynamite bomb at police as they dispersed the public meeting. which it had been observed to commemorate. All U.S. states, the District of Columbia & the territories have made it a statutory holiday.