Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio Pay brain Stuff Lauren vogle bam here. For a lot of people in the United States and Canada, labor Day means two things, a day off and the end of summer. But why is it called labor day? Labor Day is a day set aside to pay tribute to working people, and it dates back to the late eighteen hundreds. Throughout the eighteen hundreds, the Industrial Revolution produced a rapid expansion in factories and
in manufacturing capabilities. As workers moved away from agricultural work and into factories and minds, many faced terrible working conditions, long hours, low pay, and health risks. Many children worked in factories, and women and children generally received lower pay than men. The government did little to limit these injustices, and in the United States, along with much of the industrialized world, labor movements developed that lobbied for better rights
and safer conditions. At the time, people worked an average of sixty hours a week, but unions were agitating for shorter work weeks and more paid days off. At the same time, the idea of a labor day spread across the United States. The first Labor Day Parade occurred on September two in New York City. The original form of the holiday was a street parade to show the public the quote strength and a spirit the core of the trade and labor organizations, followed by a large picnic to
provide some fun for workers in their families. Meanwhile, a common method of protest used by workers in the eighteen hundreds was the strike. A strike is when a group of workers stops working in protest to labor conditions or as a bargaining tool during negotiations between labor and management. While strikes today are generally peaceful events, back then they were quite the opposite. A list of the notable strikes of the eighteen hundreds shows numerous events that were broken
by hired militias, police, or US government troops. Frequently resolved sing in the deaths of workers. Employers often hired private companies like the infamous Pinkerton Detective Agency to intimidate striking workers or to escort strike breakers workers replacing striking employees across picket lines. One of the most infamous and tragic events of this period was the Haymarket riot. On May one, six and nationwide strike began. The called for an eight
hour work day. Three days later, a rally was held in Chicago's Haymarket protesting the violent police response to a strike by workers at the McCormick Reaper works. The previous day, a police had shot into the unarmed crowd, killing four and wounding many. Because of poor weather, only a few hundred activists attended the following rally on May four, When police moved in to disperse the crowd, someone threw a bomb into the assembly. Chaos followed a police fired shots.
Some workers may have as well. No official tally of civilian casual he exists, though it's believed that several died and many were wounded. Seven police officers died and sixty were injured, many by bullets from their fellow officers. The bomb thrower was never identified, but many activists were arrested,
including some who hadn't even been at the riot. Eight were charged and convicted for inflammatory speeches and publications that allegedly caused the deadly violence, and despite numerous pleas from labor leaders and other activists, four of the convicted were hanged in November of another killed himself in prison. In June of eight, the new Illinois governor granted a full pardon to the remaining three convicted men. The event inspired labor leaders to push from May one to be an
international celebration of workers. Labor Day, known as May Day in some countries, is celebrated throughout the world on May one. In the United States, Labor Day is celebrated on the first Monday in September, dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. The workers unions chose the first Monday in September because it's halfway between Independence date and Thanksgiving.
It's been celebrated as a national holiday in the United States and Canada since the first state to designate a Labor Day holiday by law was Oregon in seven Some thirty states had adopted the holiday by the time Congress declared it a federal holiday. President Grover Cleveland signed the bill into law, which is interesting because Cleveland himself was
not a labor union supporter. Historians say he was trying to repair some political damage that he had suffered earlier that year when he sent federal troops to put down a strike by the American Railway Union at the Pullman Company in Chicago, an action that had resulted in the deaths of thirty workers. The Labor Day now carries less significance as a celebration of working people and more as
the end of summer. Membership in labor unions in the United States reached an all time high in the nineteen fifties, when about of the workforce belonged to unions. As of twenty nineteen, union membership was at about ten point three percent of the working population, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. We'll have to cover the history of labor unions themselves in a future episode or episodes, but as for this holiday, I'm turning to one Samuel Gompers to
wrap it up. In eighteen sixty six, he founded the American Federation of Labor, one of the first major unions in the United States and one that still exists today in the form of the a F l c I O. Gompers said, Labor Day differs in every essential way from
the other holidays of the year in any country. All other holidays are in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles of man's prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed, and power of glories achieved by one nation over another Labor Day is devoted to no man living or dead to know sept Or Nation. Today's episode was written by Jacob Silverman was special thanks to Scott Silverman. It was produced by Tyler Klang. For more in this and lots of other hard working topics,
visit how stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff is production of iHeart Radio. Or more podcasts from heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows