I started out wanting to write about Ronald Reagan and the Air Traffic Controllers strike, given that we are not too long after the anniversary. But then I decided to research Labor Day, and decided to write about the history of this holiday. I will do this, but then I remebered more history - anyway, the results are below the fold.
The first Labor Day in the US was celebrated in 1882 in New York City, with a parade from City Hall to Union Square. The day was Tuesday, September 5, and the march was organized by the Central Labor Union. The idea has been attributed to two labor organizers, Peter Maguire who was one of the founders of the AFL, or Matthew Maguire, who at the time was Secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York City. The following year, another parade was held on September 5; in 1884 it was moved to the first Monday in September. A movement began for legislation to make the day official, at first as a state holiday in several states. In 1886, a General Strike eventually led to the establishment of the 8-hour work day. The first state to make Labor Day a holiday was Oregon, on February 21, 1887.
Attempts to make it a federal holiday were unsuccessful. Then in 1894 the Pullman car workers went on strike in Chicago, effectively shutting down rail traffic out of the city. On July 4 (ironically) President Cleveland sent in the National Guard which violently broke up the strike. The leaders, including Eugene V. Debs, were arrested. The nation's attention became drawn to labor, and on June 28, 1894 Congress passed Labor Day into law. There was some controversy about when the holiday should be, with the international unions wanting May 1, which in Europe was becoming Labor's celebration. President Cleveland was one of the voices against this, and the first Monday in September prevailed.
Last week marked the anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom; the idea for the march came from A. Philip Randolph, international president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and vice president of the AFL-CIO, and the elder statesman of the civil rights movement. Much attention was given to the fact that Barack Obama gave his acceptance speech on the anniversary of that march and especially of Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech. John Lewis spoke at the convention's tribute to Dr. King. He also spoke at the original march, as the chairman of SNCC. His first speech was too militant for the organizers, and partly because of his respect for Randolph, he gave a toned-down version of the speech. Either one might be called the "Wake up America" speech. Dennis Kucinich's speech at the convention was, I believe, a tribute to Congressman Lewis.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
http://www.dol.gov/...
http://www.history.com/...
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
(this site has links to both versions of Lewis' speech)