Overview

• The federal holiday falls on the first Monday of September and is widely regarded as the unofficial end of summer.
• Labor Day emerged from an 1882 New York City parade organized by unions, with origins commonly attributed to Matthew Maguire and Peter McGuire.
• Congress recognized the day in 1894 following deaths in the Pullman Strike, as President Grover Cleveland moved to reconcile with organized labor.
• Unionization has fallen from more than one in three workers in 1954 to 5.9% in the private sector today, while nearly a third of public-sector workers are union members.
• Modern observance leans toward retail sales and end-of-summer gatherings, and some editorials argue for celebrating all forms of work beyond organized labor.