History of Labor Day, what it means for citizens
Rooted labor activism of the late 1800's, union leaders were pushing to receive recognition by the federal government for their contributions.
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Labor Day is a federally recognized holiday observed every first Monday of September.
For many people, the occasion is celebrated as a long weekend in which they may get together with family or simply lounge around the house.
Chris Rego, a science teacher at Starkville High School, shared why Labor Day is special to him.
“It’s just a rest, it’s the first little holiday from a teacher’s perspective,” Rego said. “It’s the first little day that we get to not go to school to have that little bit of extra time.”
One stay-at-home mom, Latrice Butler, said she and her family will be celebrating Labor Day.
“We’re going to celebrate our grandparents who have worked all their lives and made a better community for us. We’re just going to be barbecuing and sitting around talking,” Butler said.
While one purpose of Labor Day is to allow a day of rest for workers, the full history and importance of it runs much deeper than that.
BJ Pheasant, the head men’s soccer coach at the Mississippi University for Women, explained the importance of Labor Day to working people.
“Labor Day is celebrating worker’s rights and that they are able to collectively work together. Being in charge of the work that they’re doing and having good working relationships both with each other and the companies they work for,” Pheasant said. “Making sure that again safety for our workers and that we’re able to have, you know, time for the rest of our lives. We can actually enjoy a well-rounded life as opposed to just being nose to the grindstone all the time.”
The holiday is rooted in the labor activists’ movements of the late 1800s when labor union leaders were pushing to receive recognition from the federal government for their contributions to American prosperity.
The first Labor Day was celebrated in New York City on September 5th, 1882 with an inaugural Labor Day Parade which was organized by the Central Labor Union of Brooklyn, New York.
An organization that broke up but has members who are now a part of The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, or AFL-CIO.
While the history of Labor Day is over a hundred years old, the importance of its effects on workers’ rights can not be overstated.
“We are responsible for everything around us, the economy is built upon, you know, our labor, the things that we do,” Rego said. “So absolutely we should have a break have the time to and reflect on what we do.”
“It’s very important to teach the younger generation about it as well so that they’ll know also, on Labor Day, what to celebrate,” Butler said. “Cause a lot of people don’t know what they’re celebrating. They just think it’s about barbecuing and drinking, but there’s more to it than that.”
“You need people to represent everybody, so if you’ve got a lot of money on one side then you need a lot of people on the other side,” Pheasant said.
Department of Labor site: https://www.dol.gov/general/laborday/history
