Annual Repost: Perhaps Labor Day Doesn’t Come From a Store. Perhaps Labor Day means a bit more.

As the Industrial Revolution took hold of the nation, the average American in the late 1800s worked 12-hour days, seven days a week in order to make a basic living. Children were also working, as they provided cheap labor to employers and laws against child labor were not strongly enforced.

With the long hours and terrible working conditions, American unions became more prominent and voiced their demands for a better way of life. On Tuesday September 5, 1882, 10,000 workers marched from city hall to Union Square in New York City, holding the first-ever Labor Day parade. Participants took an upaid day-off to honor the workers of America, as well as vocalize issues they had with employers. As years passed, more states began to hold these parades, but Congress would not legalize the holiday until 12 years later.

On May 11, 1894, workers of the Pullman Palace Car Company in Chicago struck to protest wage cuts and the firing of union representatives. They sought support from their union led by Eugene V. Debs and on June 26 the American Railroad Union called a boycott of all Pullman railway cars. Within days, 50,000 rail workers complied and railroad traffic out of Chicago came to a halt. On July 4, President Grover Cleveland dispatched troops to Chicago. Much rioting and bloodshed ensued, but the government’s actions broke the strike and the boycott soon collapsed. Debs and three other union officials were jailed for disobeying the injunction. The strike brought worker’s rights to the public eye and Congress declared, in 1894, that the first Monday in September would be the holiday for workers, known as Labor Day.

An Updated How-to Celebrate Labor Day list:

• For inspiration, read chapter 13-15 of Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States aloud with a friend.
• Watch Matewan. Giggle at Will Oldham.
• Sing Joe Hill‘s labor songs (And you thought Bikini Kill wrote “Rebel Girl”.)
• Make a boycott list on manufacturers who use sweatshop and child labor: check here and here and here for starts.
• Support the Fair Trade label
• Pete. Seeger.
• Grab a Union Jack or Maid and enjoy the weekend. Weekends exist because of them.