Happy Labor Day

Hooray for Oregon, the first state to make Labor Day an official holiday celebrating workers! Legislation was passed here in 1887, five years after the first Labor Day tribute to workers was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882 in New York City.

From the US Department of Labor site:

“Labor Day differs in every essential way from the other holidays of the year in any country,” said Samuel Gompers, founder and longtime president of the American Federation of Labor. “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 no sect, race, or nation.”

“Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.”