[Ohio-Talk] Happy Labor Day.

Mon Sep 4 18:07:29 UTC 2023

Happy Labor Day! One of my favorite Union songs:

Serving NFB and the community!
Pat McPherson

Phone: 330-524-8388

E-mail: patrinkle at icloud.com

National Federation of the Blind  of Ohio,
Greater Akron Chapter, Treasurer

NFB Ohio Community Service Division, President

> On Sep 4, 2023, at 8:29 AM, Richard Payne via Ohio-Talk <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> 
> 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.
> 
> 
> <winmail.dat>
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