[Ohio-Talk] Happy Labor Day.

[Richard Payne]

I wanted to wish you and your family a happy Labor Day and included a good
read.

	Beginning in the late 19th century, as the trade union
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_union>  and labor movements
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_movement>  grew, diverse groups of
trade unionists chose a variety of days on which to celebrate labor. In the
United States, a September holiday called Labor Day was first proposed in
the early 1880s.
Alternative accounts of the event's origin exist. Descendants of two men
with similar last names claim their great-grandfather was the true father of
the holiday.[7] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day> 
According to one early history of Labor Day, the event originated in
connection with a General Assembly of the Knights of Labor
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_of_Labor>  convened in New York City
in September 1882.[8] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day>  In
connection with this clandestine Knights assembly, a public parade of
various labor organizations was held on September 5 under the auspices of
the Central Labor Union <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Labor_Union>
(CLU) of New York.[8] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day>  Secretary
of the CLU Matthew Maguire
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Maguire_(labor_activist)>  is
credited for first proposing that a national Labor Day holiday subsequently
be held on the first Monday of each September in the aftermath of this
successful public demonstration.[9]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day> [7]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day> 
An alternative theory maintains that the idea of Labor Day was the
brainchild of Peter J. McGuire
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_J._McGuire> , a vice president of the
American Federation of Labor
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Federation_of_Labor> , who, after a
visit to Toronto <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto>  where he saw
parades celebrating labor that May,[10]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day> [11]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day>  had put forward the initial
proposal in the spring of 1882.[4] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day>
According to McGuire, on May 8, 1882, he made a proposition to the fledgling
Central Labor Union in New York City that a day be set aside for a "general
holiday for the laboring classes".[12]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day>  According to McGuire he further
recommended that the event should begin with a street parade as a public
demonstration of organized labor's solidarity and strength, with the march
followed by a picnic, to which participating local unions could sell tickets
as a fundraiser.[12] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day>  According to
McGuire he suggested the first Monday in September as an ideal date for such
a public celebration, owing to optimum weather and the date's place on the
calendar, sitting midway between the Fourth of July
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_of_July>  and Thanksgiving
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving>  public holidays.[12]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day> 
Labor Day picnics and other public gatherings frequently featured speeches
by prominent labor leaders.[13] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day> 
In 1909, the American Federation of Labor convention designated the Sunday
preceding Labor Day as "Labor Sunday", to be dedicated to the spiritual and
educational aspects of the labor movement.[9]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day>  This secondary date failed to
gain significant traction in popular culture, although some churches
continue to acknowledge it.[14] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day> 
Legal recognition[edit
<https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Labor_Day&action=edit&section=3>
]
The popularity of the event spread across the country. In 1887, Oregon
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon>  became the first state of the United
States to make Labor Day an official public holiday
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holiday> . By 1894, thirty U.S. states
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._states>  were already officially
celebrating Labor Day. In that year, Congress
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Congress>  passed a bill
recognizing the first Monday of September as Labor Day and making it an
official federal holiday
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_holidays_in_the_United_States> .
President Grover Cleveland signed the bill into law on June 28.[15]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day> [4]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day>  The federal law, however, only
made it a holiday for federal workers. As late as the 1930s, unions were
encouraging workers to strike to make sure they got the day off.[16]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day>  All U.S. states, the District of
Columbia <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_D.C.> , and the United
States territories
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territories_of_the_United_States>  have
subsequently made Labor Day a statutory holiday.[17]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day>  Labor Day became a federal
holiday shortly after the Pullman Strike
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pullman_Strike> .
Labor Day versus May Day[edit
<https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Labor_Day&action=edit&section=4>
]

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Labor_Day_parade_on_Pennsylvania_Avenue,
_Washington,_D.C._LCCN2017645684.jpg>  Labor Day parade on Pennsylvania
Avenue in Washington, D.C. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_D.C.>
, c. 1894
The date of May 1 (an ancient European folk holiday known as May Day
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Day> ) emerged in 1886 as an alternative
holiday for the celebration of labor, later becoming known as International
Workers' Day <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Workers%27_Day> .
The date had its origins at the 1885 convention of the American Federation
of Labor, which passed a resolution calling for adoption of the eight-hour
day <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight-hour_day>  effective May 1,
1886.[18] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day>  While negotiation was
envisioned for achievement of the shortened work day, use of the strike to
enforce this demand was recognized, with May 1 advocated as a date for
coordinated strike action.[18] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day>
The proximity of the date to the bloody Haymarket affair
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_affair>  of May 4, 1886, further
accentuated May First's radical reputation.[14]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day> 
There was disagreement among labor unions at this time about when a holiday
celebrating workers should be, with some advocating for continued emphasis
of the September march-and-picnic date while others sought the designation
of the more politically charged date of May 1. Conservative Democratic
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party_(United_States)>  President
Grover Cleveland <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grover_Cleveland>  was one
of those concerned that a labor holiday on May 1 would tend to become a
commemoration of the Haymarket affair
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_affair>  and would strengthen
socialist
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_socialist_movement_in_the_Unit
ed_States>  and anarchist
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchism_in_the_United_States>  movements
that backed the May 1 commemoration around the globe.[19]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day>  In 1887, he publicly supported
the September Labor Day holiday as a less inflammatory alternative,[20]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day>  formally adopting the date as a
United States federal holiday through a law that he signed in 1894.[9]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day> 
Since the mid-1950s, the United States has celebrated Loyalty Day
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loyalty_Day>  and Law Day
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_Day_(United_States)>  on May 1. Unlike
Labor Day, neither are legal public holidays (in that government agencies
and most businesses do not shut down to celebrate them) and therefore have
remained relatively obscure. Loyalty Day is formally celebrated in a few
cities, while some bar associations
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_association>  hold Law Day events to
celebrate the rule of law <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_law> .[21]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day> [22]
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day> 


Richard Payne,  President
National Federation of the Blind of Ohio
937/829/3368
Rchpay7 at gmail.com <mailto:Rchpay7 at gmail.com> 
The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the
expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want;
blindness is not what holds you back.


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