While Europeans celebrate Labor Day on May 1, Americans have chosen the end of summer for the holiday: the first Monday in September. The American holiday has a long tradition, one that predates the European one.
Who had the idea of the first Labor Day is still being debated. Some say a certain Peter McGuire is responsible for the holiday. McGuire, the son of an Irish immigrant and carpenter by trade, fought hard for workers' rights and helped found trade unions.
Many believe, however, that a machinist named Matthew Maguire founded the holiday. Maguire reportedly proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. The idea was to have an official day to protest against appalling working conditions and proclaim solidarity among workers.
In any case, the first Labor Day was celebrated in 1882 in New York on Tuesday, September 5. Twenty thousand workers marched in a parade up Broadway. They carried banners that read 'Labor creates all wealth' and 'Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, eight hours for recreation!' The parade was followed by picnics throughout the city and at night; fireworks were set off.
By 1887, five states had passed legislation to make Labor Day an official holiday: Oregon, Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York.
The idea also moved across the ocean. At a meeting of the International Workingman's Association in Paris on July 14, 1889, exactly 100 years after the start of the French revolution, European socialists decided to make May 1 their Labor Day.
Demands were very similar to that of American workers: 8-hour work days, the end of child labor, better job protection and the right to form unions.
1894 was an election year in the US and labor unrest was becoming a major issue. Six days after his troops brutally crushed a strike by Pullman workers, President Grover Cleveland signed a bill making Labor Day a federal holiday. His efforts at conciliation were however not rewarded: he was not reelected.
Although Labor Day is still dedicated to the American worker, it has become a symbol for the end of the summer. Most schools and colleges start their winter semesters on the Tuesday after Labor Day. Even the weather often plays a part, as temperatures tend to drop shortly after the first Monday in September.
So instead of listening to politicians starting their campaign for the November elections or of going down Main Street demonstrating for better working conditions, American workers tend to spend this last long weekend of the summer with their families and friends at the beach, on picnic grounds or in their own backyards - bidding farewell to summer!