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Labor Day is a United States federal holiday that takes place on the first Monday of September. The origins of the American
Labor Day can be traced back to the Knights of Labor in the United States and a parade organized by them on September 5, 1882
in New York City. They were inspired by an annual labor parade held in Toronto, Canada. In 1884 another parade was held, and
the Knights passed resolutions to make this an annual event. Other labor organizations (and there were many), but notably the
affiliates of the International Workingmen's Association, many of whom were socialists or anarchists, favoured a May 1
holiday. With the event of Chicago's Haymarket riots in early May of 1886, president Grover Cleveland believed that a May 1
holiday could become an opportunity to commemorate the riots. Thus, fearing that it might strengthen the socialist movement,
he quickly moved in 1887 to support the position of the Knights of Labor and their date for Labor Day. |
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Labor Day has been
celebrated on the first Monday in September in the United States since the 1880s. The September date has remained unchanged,
even though the government was encouraged to adopt May 1 as Labor Day, the date celebrated by the majority of the world.
Moving the holiday, in addition to breaking with tradition, could have been viewed as aligning the U.S. labor movements with
internationalist sympathies. Labor Day is generally regarded simply as a day of rest, and political demonstrations are rare.
Forms of celebration include picnics, barbecues, fireworks displays, water activities, and public art events. Families with
school-age children take it as the last chance to travel before the end of summer. Some teenagers and young adults view it as
the last weekend for parties before returning to school. |
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An old, and now largely ignored, custom prohibits the wearing of white after Labor Day. The explanations for this
tradition range from the idea that white clothes are worse protection against cold weather in the winter than colored clothes
to the intention of the rule as a status symbol for new members of the middle class in the late 19th century and early 20th
century. One of the largest modern traditions of Labor Day in the United States is the annual telethon of the Muscular
Dystrophy Association, hosted by Jerry Lewis to fund research and patient support programs for the various diseases grouped
as muscular dystrophy. The telethon raises tens of millions of dollars USD each year. In 2005, despite the recent catastrophe
caused by Hurricane Katrina, nearly $55 million was raised over 21 hours. |
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The "Labour Association" :
The holiday is now often associated with the commemoration of the social and economic achievements of the labor
movement. The 1 May date is used because in 1884 the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions, inspired by Labor's
1872 success in Canada, demanded an eight-hour workday in the United States, to come in effect as of May 1, 1886. This
resulted in the general strike and the U.S. Haymarket Riot of 1886, but eventually also in the official sanction of the
eight-hour workday. More recently, it is associated with the Kent State Massacre. May Day is designated International
Workers' Day. It is indeed an international holiday in many countries, but not English-speaking countries such as the United
States and the United Kingdom. In most of the world, except in the US, Labor Day is celebrated on the 1st of May in
remembrance of the 1886 Haymarket Riot. The adoption of May Day by socialists (and later also the communists) as their
primary holiday cements official resistance to this holiday in the US. The US government has also attempted to create other
holidays for the day of 1 May, in order to further discourage the celebration of May Day. Canada, Australia, and New Zealand
also celebrate Labour Day on different dates; that has to do with how the holiday originated in those countries. |
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Nevertheless, May Day has long been a focal point for demonstrations by various socialist, communist, and anarchist
groups. In the 20th century, the holiday received the official endorsement of the Soviet Union; celebrations in communist
countries during the Cold War era often consisted of large military parades and shows of common people in support of the
government. In a separate attempt to co-opt May Day, the Roman Catholic Church added another Saint Joseph's Day in 1955 that
Christianized 1 May as the day of "Saint Joseph, the Worker". It is perhaps surprising that the Church did not take this step
earlier, to distract attention from the traditionally virile pagan celebrations of May Day. |
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The Secular significance of the Day :
Over the past century, May Day came to acquire new meanings. Some of them have even become quite opposed to the
tradition of lighthearted joyfulness with Maypoles, Morris dance, and bathing in the May dew. Strange though, they still
revolve round the old significance of the day. That is, a day of feast and festival in the month of Summer. Yet for which
there is no such church service as that of Christmas, Easter, or . This is why it has always been a strong secular festival.
And the same significance also helped working people in picking it up as the day to celebrate as a day off their work. By the
20th century May Day has come to be regarded a red letter day and has become a festival of the laboring class in Socialist
countries. But the secular significance alone has not made the Day a memorable day to observe by the labor. The labor link to this day
is rather highlighted by a story of labor strife and bloodshed. |
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The American root :
And it is all rooted to the labor movement in United States during the 19th century. Then the country had been
witnessing labor unrests and agitations for over a century. But mostly in an unorganized manner. In the 19th century it
became more organized with the workers becoming worried over their position in the mainstream society. During the 1860s the Knights of Labor gave a new dimension to this organized labor movement. |
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From Labor Day to May Day - the shift :
In 1884 the group held a parade on the first Monday of September. And then it passed a resolution to hold all future
parades on that day designating it as Labor Day. The Knights of Labor soon came to be regarded as the most dominant of all
labor unions in the US.
However, things changed. The year 1886 was a troubled one in labor relations. There were nearly 1,600 strikes, involving
about 600,000 workers, with the eight-hour day being the most prominent item in the demands of labor. About half of these
strikes were called in on May Day.
Now, some of those strikes were successful. But the failure of others and internal conflicts between skilled and unskilled
members led to a decline in the Knights' popularity and influence.
The most serious blow to the unions came from a tragic occurrence. And this was what made the May 1 as an important day in
the history of Labor Movement in America. Though it did not take place on May Day itself, but it came as a consequence whose
origin was laid on that day. |
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The Mayhem :
It was one of the many strikes called for May Day in 1886. And it was against the McCormick Harvesting Machine
Company in Chicago. The air was already heated with inflammatory speeches and debates. On May 3 a fighting broke out along
the picket lines. And, when police intervened to restore order, several strikers were injured or killed. Union leaders called
a protest meeting at Haymarket Square for the evening of May 4; but, it was there yet another gory incident took place as a
result of a bomb explosion. Seven policemen were killed and many were injured. Eight unionists, alleged to be responsible for
the incident, were arrested, tried, and convicted of murder. Four of them were hanged, and one committed suicide. Following
this tragedy the public sympathy with organized labors went down. The Knights of Labor did never gain ground after this.
Though strikes went on to be held. Some other unions came to the forefront. One of them was an association of French
Socialists, called the Second International. It was in 1889, they declared the May Day devoted to labor and its problem. They
renamed it "Labor Day" and it was the occasion for important political demonstrations. In France, the Maypole had already
regarded as the symbol of French Revolution. And perhaps the French union was partly motivated by that spirit behind the day. |
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The Socialist celebration :
But the idea really gained ground in other parts of the world with the International Socialist congress of 1889 in
Paris. It was the congress that designating it as an international labor day. While in the United States and Canada, Labor
Day still continues to be observed on the first Monday in September, rest of the world observes it on May 1 or other dates.
At present, the May Day connection, best known outside the Maypoles, is the celebration of the Russian Communists. It was in
the 1920s, they inaugurated the May Day parades. It was a major holiday in the Soviet Union and other Communist countries,
and also in many other parts of the world. Even in today's Russia it is an annual holiday devoted to the recognition of
working people's contribution to society.A unique display of the most modern weapons and seemingly endless troops of soldiers
is held in Moscow, the capital of Russia on this day. This is how May Day, once mainly a spring festival, has become a
festival of the laboring class in Socialist countries. |
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Upcoming Labor Day dates :
2006 - September 4
2007 - September 3
2008 - September 1
2009 - September 7
2010 - September 6 |
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