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Recent research seems to support the theory that Matthew Maguire, the secretary of a local in the Association of Machinists (Paterson, N.J.) proposed the holiday while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. The undisputable fact is that it was the Central Labor Union who adopted a Labor Day proposal and planned the celebration.
That was an election year and incumbent President Grover Cleveland seized the idea of a national holiday as a way to reconcile with labor. Thus Labor Day was born, although Cleveland was defeated. Today Labor Day seems more of the right bookend to summer, with Memorial Day on the left. Union membership in the U.S. has been drastically reduced in the last half of the 20th century and the day set aside for the celebration of the labor movements and their victories has lost much of its original significance. In spite of the fact that all workers, blue and white collar, union and not, have benefited from those triumphs, most of us give little thought to the bitter battles that were fought and won on behalf of the working person. Instead, the holiday has given way to school openings, pool closings, picnics, barbecues and gigantic sales in the retail trade that prevent salespeople from celebrating the holiday. It would behoove each of us this Labor/Labour Day to ponder our improved economic conditions and say a silent thank you to those who pioneered and made some of those improvements possible. We should give further reflection that, in spite of a day set aside in most countries throughout the world to honor the worker, there are many places where child labor, inhumane working conditions, virtual slavery, sweat shops and other workplace horrors are still commonplace.
For additional information: The Origin of Labour Day (Canada) Go To Page: 1 2
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