Wassup with Labor Day?

"I think of all the summer holidays, it is the least understood, and the most dreaded by school age kids..."

Labor Day has always been an enigma to me. Ever since I was a little boy. It was a weird day. The least understood of the three major summer holidays. I understood Memorial Day as a day to honor the fallen. I understood Independence Day as a day to celebrate our, well - Independence. But Labor Day? What does it really mean, besides the end of summer? The end of the State Fair? The start of the dreaded school year?

Actually Labor Day started out in the 1800's as a regional holiday. It started out as just a parade in New York City. The date - September 5th, 1882. It was a parade to honor the strength of labor and trade organizations in the city. It soon became an annual event in New York City, even though it was unofficial. Word spread, and soon other cities started having parades also - always on the first Monday in September.

It was not without its problems however. One year in Chicago, there was a riot which is now referred to as the Haymarket Riot. It was a bloody affair, which left 8 dead and many wounded. It was so bad it almost killed the labor movement in America.

Then in 1894, there was the now famous Pullman Strike. It was a nationwide strike that idled our nation's railways. President Grover Cleveland needed to do something to mollify the labor unions. He wanted to keep crippling strikes like Pullman from happening again.

Using the same date that New York City had used years ago to hold their annual labor parade, Cleveland decided to designate the first Monday in September as a federal holiday. A day to honor organized labor. Even though the labor organizations thought May 1st of each year would be a better day, President Cleveland did not want any confusion with our Labor Day and some Communist celebration.

So there it is. A day to honor labor. But the question today is this - what kind of labor? Is it only organized labor? If so, we are honoring only around 11.3% of the population in labor unions. Of that number, about 1/5 are in private labor unions and the rest are in (you guessed it) public unions. The dreaded and often hated public unions.

So if you are in the 89% of the population who are not in a union, what does this day mean for you? Does it honor your labor also? If not, this day becomes as distant for the 89% as watching the French celebrate Bastille Day. 

So happy Labor Day. If you are going to the fair, look for those final day values. If you are getting kids ready for school, good luck. It was always a stressful time in our household. If you think this is the last day of summer, and if you live in Minnesota, you are close to being right. Other than that, Labor Day to many, remains somewhat of an enigma.