"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.
Founder of Labor Day
More than 100 years after the first Labor Day observance, there is still some doubt as to who first proposed the holiday for workers.
Some records show that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a cofounder of the American Federation of Labor, was first in suggesting a day to honor those "who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold."
But Peter McGuire's place in Labor Day history has not gone unchallenged. Many believe that Matthew Maguire, a machinist, not Peter McGuire, founded the holiday. Recent research seems to support the contention that Matthew Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J., proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. What is clear is that the Central Labor Union adopted a Labor Day proposal and appointed a committee to plan a demonstration and picnic.
The First Labor Day
The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883.
In 1884 the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday, as originally proposed, and the Central Labor Union urged similar organizations in other cities to follow the example of New York and celebrate a "workingmen's holiday" on that date. The idea spread with the growth of labor organizations, and in 1885 Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers of the country.
Labor Day Legislation
Through the years the nation gave increasing emphasis to Labor Day. The first governmental recognition came through municipal ordinances passed during 1885 and 1886. From them developed the movement to secure state legislation. The first state bill was introduced into the New York legislature, but the first to become law was passed by Oregon on February 21, 1887. During the year four more states — Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York — created the Labor Day holiday by legislative enactment. By the end of the decade Connecticut, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania had followed suit. By 1894, 23 other states had adopted the holiday in honor of workers, and on June 28 of that year, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.
A Nationwide Holiday
The form that the observance and celebration of Labor Day should take were outlined in the first proposal of the holiday — a street parade to exhibit to the public "the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations" of the community, followed by a festival for the recreation and amusement of the workers and their families. This became the pattern for the celebrations of Labor Day. Speeches by prominent men and women were introduced later, as more emphasis was placed upon the economic and civic significance of the holiday. Still later, by a resolution of the American Federation of Labor convention of 1909, the Sunday preceding Labor Day was adopted as Labor Sunday and dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement.
The character of the Labor Day celebration has undergone a change in recent years, especially in large industrial centers where mass displays and huge parades have proved a problem. This change, however, is more a shift in emphasis and medium of expression. Labor Day addresses by leading union officials, industrialists, educators, clerics and government officials are given wide coverage in newspapers, radio, and television.
The vital force of labor added materially to the highest standard of living and the greatest production the world has ever known and has brought us closer to the realization of our traditional ideals of economic and political democracy. It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation pay tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation's strength, freedom, and leadership — the American worker
By BRADLEY S. KLAPPER, Associated Press Last updated: 9:22 p.m., Sunday, September 2, 2007
GENEVA -- American workers stay longer in the office, at the factory or on the farm than their counterparts in Europe and most other rich nations, and they produce more per person over the year.
They also get more done per hour than everyone but the Norwegians, according to a U.N. report released Monday, which said the United States "leads the world in labor productivity."
The average U.S. worker produces $63,885 of wealth per year, more than their counterparts in all other countries, the International Labor Organization said in its report. Ireland comes in second at $55,986, followed by Luxembourg at $55,641, Belgium at $55,235 and France at $54,609.
The productivity figure is found by dividing the country's gross domestic product by the number of people employed. The U.N. report is based on 2006 figures for many countries, or the most recent available.
Only part of the U.S. productivity growth, which has outpaced that of many other developed economies, can be explained by the longer hours Americans are putting in, the ILO said.
The U.S., according to the report, also beats all 27 nations in the European Union, Japan and Switzerland in the amount of wealth created per hour of work -- a second key measure of productivity.
Norway, which is not an EU member, generates the most output per working hour, $37.99, a figure inflated by the country's billions of dollars in oil exports and high prices for goods at home. The U.S. is second at $35.63, about a half dollar ahead of third-place France.
Seven years ago, French workers produced over a dollar more on average than their American counterparts. The country led the U.S. in hourly productivity from 1994 to 2003.
The U.S. employee put in an average 1,804 hours of work in 2006, the report said. That compared with 1,407.1 hours for the Norwegian worker and 1,564.4 for the French.
It pales, however, in comparison with the annual hours worked per person in Asia, where seven economies -- South Korea, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia and Thailand -- surpassed 2,200 average hours per worker. But those countries had lower productivity rates.
America's increased productivity "has to do with the ICT (information and communication technologies) revolution, with the way the U.S. organizes companies, with the high level of competition in the country, with the extension of trade and investment abroad," said Jose Manuel Salazar, the ILO's head of employment.
The ILO report warned that the widening of the gap between leaders such as the U.S. and poorer nations has been even more dramatic.
Laborers from regions such as southeast Asia, Latin America and the Middle East have the potential to create more wealth but are being held back by a lack of investment in training, equipment and technology, the agency said.
In sub-Saharan Africa, workers are only about one-twelfth as productive as those in developed countries, the report said.
"The huge gap in productivity and wealth is cause for great concern," ILO Director-General Juan Somavia said, adding that it was important to raise productivity levels of the lowest-paid workers in the world's poorest countries.
China and other East Asian countries are catching up quickest with Western countries. Productivity in the region has doubled in the past decade and is accelerating faster than anywhere else, the report said. But they still have a long way to go: Workers in East Asia are still only about one-fifth as productive as laborers in industrialized countries.
The vast differences among China's sectors tell part of the story. Whereas a Chinese industrial worker produces $12,642 worth of output -- almost eight times more than in 1980 -- a laborer in the farm and fisheries sector contributes a paltry $910 to gross domestic product.
The difference is much less pronounced in the United States, where a manufacturing employee produced an unprecedented $104,606 of value in 2005. An American farm laborer, meanwhile, created $52,585 worth of output, down 10 percent from seven years ago, when U.S. agricultural productivity peaked.
It's Labor Day: The last un-official day of summer filled with beach picnics and backyard BBQs.
But what exactly are we celebrating here? Is this holiday anything more than Frisbee, parades, barbequed corn and daytime drinking? Well think fast because it's quiz time.
What Is Labor Day?
A) A holiday to celebrate the hellish hours of pushing a woman goes through during childbirth.
B) A holiday started by college kids so they could get drunk on Sunday and sleep it off on Monday.
C) A holiday created to stop people from wearing white for the rest of the year.
D) A holiday created to honor the "working man."
If you guessed D, you're correct (and if you didn't guess D, we might be a little worried about you).
Don't worry if you can't remember the holiday's history from your 4th grade Social Studies class because we're bringing you the 'Cliff Notes' version of what this day of rest is all about.
Labor Day is a tradition that has been celebrated on the first Monday of September in the US since the 1880s. The national holiday was started by the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers.
I had the day off from my job....but I worked my a** off around the house/yard.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
God Bless ya! I dont think I'll ever be able to retire. Not completely anyways. I don't think I could afford to. I never worked in the public sector, so health insurance will be a major issue for me. And not to mention the ever rising cost of things. Time will tell.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
I was extremely lucky that one of the benefits that the company offered to get us older guys to retire was a promise to give us the same medical insurance as when we were working until we reached age 65. For the wife too until she's 65.
I don't think that the young adults of today will have as good of retirements that some of us do.Most folks that are retired now have pretty good pensions. They are not like the ones that are out there now. There aren't as many larger companies around here anymore that offer really good retirement benefits. I would tell all of the young adults of today to start putting their own money aside for when they are ready to retire. At least there woud be a little something extra there for them when the time comes. I don't know if I would put too much into the stock market since that seems a little too risky these days.
I don't think that the young adults of today will have as good of retirements that some of us do.Most folks that are retired now have pretty good pensions. They are not like the ones that are out there now. There aren't as many larger companies around here anymore that offer really good retirement benefits. I would tell all of the young adults of today to start putting their own money aside for when they are ready to retire. At least there woud be a little something extra there for them when the time comes. I don't know if I would put too much into the stock market since that seems a little too risky these days.
I actaully have a 401(k), which I take use of my employer's matching contributions. As far as the stock market, it's either that, a cheap savings posibility or bonds. I'm keeping my stuff in the stocks. Of course, with how weak the dollar is right now, I'm keeping upwards of 3/4 of my money in international stocks. I guess I'm almost playing that it helps me if the dollar is weak, but you have to do what's going to give you the biggest nestegg.
Cd's may be secure but they don't pay very much, stocks pay the most and if you invest in solid blue chip companies and spread your investments over many sectors you should be fine. That said there will always be radical ups and down in the market you just have to have patient and ride it out.
My employer also contributes to my 401 and I take advantage of that. I did have my money in stocks, but it seemed that as the months went by, I was losing not only the money my employer contributed, but also the money I contributed. I am just a few year away from retirement and I feel that I don't have a lot of time to re-coup my loses. So now everthing goes in to a secured money market account. I may not make much interest, but at least the money we put in stays in.
I'm retired and I still have most of my money invested in mutual fund stocks and they've been doing very well over the last 10 years that I've been retired. The best return on my money has been from my Global Stock Fund just as BK mentioned. In the near future I plan to put the bulk of my investments in more secure bonds or what ever my financial advisor recommends.
That's what they say, the closer to retirement you are, the mor you should bring things back in and essentially "keep your cards close to your vest." That's why, with the amount of time I have until I can (or will be able to ) retire, I'm going all out. In a few years, I'll have to check to see how things are going.
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