Why Do We Celebrate Labor Day?
As we get together for this much anticipated day off we’re covering what makes Labor Day so special. Why do we celebrate it? When did it become a holiday? We’ll cover this and more in today’s article. We hope you are all having a wonderful Labor Day with family and friends, and we hope you enjoy this article.
How Labor Day Came About
Labor Day came about during one of our country’s most dismal labor chapters. During the height of the industrial revolution in the US, the average person worked 12 hour days 7 days a week just to make a living. Even children as young as 5 or 6 labored in mills, factories or even mines making a fraction of their adult counterpart’s wages.
The Rise Of American Labor Unions
American labor unions started to rise at the end of the 18th century and grew prominent and vocal about conditions, hours, ages, and wages. They set up protests and strikes to get their employers to negotiate hours and pay. On Sept 5, 1882; 10,000 workers took unpaid time off to march to Union Square in New York City. This was the first noted Labor Day Parade in US history.
Companies Recognized The Need For Labor Day
From then on many other companies recognized the need to celebrate workers as a national holiday. Legislation was passed in many states to recognize this holiday, although Labor Day was not passed as an official holiday by congress until 12 years later.
Labor Day Signed Into Law
So you see, Labor Day was created in a massive state of unrest to try to repair ties with the American workers. Labor Day was officially signed into law by President Grover Cleveland on June 28th, 1894.
Labor Day is still celebrated today all across the US in cities and towns. We want to thank all of our workers at Conservation Construction of Texas for their dedication and continued support for the company during these hard times. We are very thankful and grateful for our employees. We hope that everybody enjoys their day off! Thank you for reading today’s article and have a wonderful holiday!!!