A Holiday Born of Protest

This Labor Day, in addition to enjoying barbecues and celebrating the end of a relentlessly hot summer, Quotidian Dissent would like to recall the history of the holiday.  It sprung forth from a protest:

The original inspiration of Labor Day was a protest of the traditional 12 hour work day.  Worker strikes, boycotts, unrest and even riots laid the groundwork for labor reform and a dedicated day off honoring all American workers, with rallies and parades starting in 1882.  The first parade was the result of the US troops opening fire on striking workers in New York City that year.

Two years later…the famous Pullman coach worker’s strike against the nation’s railroads literally shut down commerce coast to coast and erupted in violence.  With over 125,000 railroad workers striking, 13 strikers were killed and more than 50 injured in a riot in Chicago.  Later that year, the first Monday in September was sanctioned by the Federal government as a national holiday.

Thankfully, labor laws have come a long way since then; the only people gathered outside the White House today were tourists.  -QD