Labor Day celebrates workers
On Monday the United States celebrates Labor Day. The federal holiday began in 1894 to honor the economic and social contributions of workers. Before then, 30 states officially held a Labor Day, with Oregon being the first in 1887.
Union labor leaders proposed the holiday in 1882, but it wasn’t until after the violent Pullman Strike, a protest over reduced wages in which 13 workers were killed and 57 wounded by U.S. Marshals and Army troops, that Congress passed the legislation to declare the holiday. It was just six days after the end of the strike that President Grover Cleveland signed the holiday into law.
Labor Day, celebrated on the first Monday in September, signals the end of summer for many people.
Almost all federal and state offices are closed Sept. 3. As are schools and many businesses.