Yesterday, America celebrated Labor Day as a National Holiday
for the 127th time. The very first Labor Day was
celebrated in New York City on Tuesday, September 5, 1882. The
first Labor Day was an outgrowth of the burgeoning union movement
in America. New York's first Labor Day celebration consisted
of about 10,000 workers, who took unpaid leave and who marched to
where else but Union Square?
President Grover Cleveland signed a bill into law on June 28,
1894, declaring Labor Day a national holiday. The passing of this
law came at the same time that the bitter Pullman Strike was
occurring in Chicago, which caused a major disruption to all
railroad traffic in the Midwest. In response, President Cleveland,
a Democrat, called out federal troops to help put down the strike.
Some historians contend that President
Cleveland advocated for a Labor Day holiday because he was afraid
of losing the support of working-class voters. In the late 19th
century, Labor Day celebrations
