National Labor Day 2024 Date, Theme, Activities, Celebration

American people celebrate National Labor Day on the first Monday of September of every year. Hundreds of hardworking people celebrate this across the entire world.  In 2024 people will observe on 5th September. This day celebrates in the United States and many other countries every year. In the late nineteenth century, people established the day to recognize the many contributions workers have made to America’s strength, prosperity, and well-being.

What is meaning Labor Day?

Labor Day is celebrating the first Monday in September of every year in the United States. It is a creation of the Labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. Labor contributes to the prosperity, strength, and well-being of our country.

Today also:

• National Cheese Pizza Day

LABOR DAY DATES

Year       Date                      Day

2021       September 6      Monday

2022       September 5      Monday

2023       September 4      Monday

2024       September 2      Monday

History  and Theme of National Labor Day

Labor Day, in the United States and Canada, holiday (the first Monday in September) honoring workers and recognizing their contributions to society. In many other countries, May Day serves a similar purpose. Labor Day is celebrated on Monday, September 5, 2024.

read more: National Labor Day Quotes

In the United States, Peter J. McGuire, a union leader who had founded the United Brotherhood of Carpenters in 1881, is generally given credit for the idea of Labor Day. In 1882 he suggested to the Central Labor Union of New York that there be a celebration honoring American workers.

On September 5 some 10,000 workers, under the sponsorship of the Knights of Labor, held a parade in New York City.  In 1884 the Knights of Labor adopted a resolution that the first Monday in September.

Important Historical Happenings

Haymarket Incident

The Haymarket Riot (also known as the “Haymarket Incident” and “Haymarket Affair”) occurred on May 4, 1886, when a labor protest rally near Chicago’s Haymarket Square turned into a riot after someone threw a bomb at police. At least eight people died as a result of the violence that day. Despite a lack of evidence against them, eight radical labor activists were convicted in connection with the bombing. The Haymarket Riot was viewed as a setback for the organized labor movement in America, which was fighting for rights like the eight-hour workday. At the same time, many in the labor movement viewed the convicted men as martyrs.

The Pullman Strike

The Pullman Strike of 1894 was one of the most influential events in the history of U.S. labor. What began as a walkout by railroad workers in the company town of Pullman, Illinois, escalated into the country’s first national strike.

Railroad Boycott

The nationwide railroad boycott that lasted from May 11 to July 20, 1894, was a turning point for US labor law. It pitted the American Railway Union (ARU) against the Pullman Company, the main railroads, the main labor unions, and the federal government of the United States under President Grover Cleveland.

Labor Day vs. May Day

Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States that people celebrate to honor the contributions of the American laborers and also the American Labor Movement.

May Day has two meanings: one to celebrate laborers (known as International Worker’s Day) and celebrating the start of summer. The first meaning came around in the late 19th century when May Day people chosen as the date for International Workers’ Day.

Check also: National Labor Day wishes

LABOR DAY BY THE NUMBERS

162 million – the number of Americans (over 16) in the labor force.

40% – the percentage of U.S. workers who belonged to labor unions in the 1950s (that dropped to 11% by 2018).

1894 – the year Congress officially made Labor Day a federal holiday.

41% – the percentage of Americans who plan to barbecue over Labor Day Weekend.

818 – the number of U.S. hot dogs eaten every second from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

$685 – the average kid’s back-to-school expenses.

$55,000 – the median U.S. household income.

705 million – the total number of U.S. unused vacation days (2017).

80% – the percentage of Americans who would take time off if their boss were more supportive.

— courtesy WalletHub ©2018

National Labor Day USA 2024

Monday, Americans will celebrate the 140th Labor Day. Although reluctant to do so, the president who introduced it though it’d be a good vote getter.

Labor Day celebrates the contribution and achievements of American workers and it is celebrated on the first Monday in September each year. The annual parades were first introduced by the labor movement in the late 19th century and Labor Day became a federal holiday in 1894.

President Cleveland made Labor Day a federal holiday

Grover Cleveland was serving as the 24th President of the United States when he signed the celebration of Labor Day into law on 28 June, 1894. Americans had been calling for better working conditions since 1882, but it took Congress 12 years to designate it a national holiday.

He had been reluctant to officially sanction Labor Day as a national holiday for fear that it would further embolden the labor movement, which was becoming increasingly powerful in American society.

However that changed when he was forced to appease working class voters in the aftermath of the Pullman railroad strike.

The Pullman Palace Car Company manufactured railroad sleeper cars used all across the US but workers went on strike in 1894 when company owner, George Pullman, slashed workers’ wages without lowering the housing prices in his company town in Chicago.

Many of the unhappy workers protested but they were swiftly fired by Pullman, sparking a strike of the American Railway Union (ARU).