Labor Day (Rookie Read-About Holidays)
Rookie Read-About Holidays by Scholastic!
Labor Day. We celebrate it every year, but why? I mean, most of us work in this country despite a slightly higher unemployment rate than in the past few decades, but most people are working. Why do and should we celebrate this holiday?
It all goes back to the railroads and something called The Pullman Strike in 1894. You may know my love of trains, my grandfather worked for the B&O his entire civilian career, so this story intrigued me!
I’ve heard lots of railroad stories and working on the railroad was not only hard and dangerous, the pay wasn’t so great and you never knew when and if you would be working that day. In my own family, my grandfather had to go without wages if they ‘didn’t need him’ for a shipment or, due to not having sick leave, would have to take unpaid time off if he was ill. It affected his family and my dad, who likes to pinch pennies for fear of ‘going to the poorhouse’. Apparently, it used to be EVEN worse!
See, there was a huge depression going on in 1893 and due to the panic, the Pullman Company who employed close to 4,000 workers were left with cut wages and lost labor. However, the market didn’t slow down and many workers could barely make ends meet. It turned into chaos. The American Railway Union and the Pullman Company ended up joining forces in a massive and quite successful strike. They said it affected some 250,000 workers in 24 states! WOW! Now that is quite an organized strike. Think of your mail not being delivered! Or important parts not getting to factories! Chaos!
So, what did our President do? Well, at first he tried to stop the protestors. They wouldn’t stop. He sent in guards. They wouldn’t stop. THIRTY people were killed in these strikes and there was no sign of the two groups backing down.
And – they kept fighting! It is estimated over $80 million in property damage was done that finally negotiations began to take place.
Finally, time for damage control! Just a few days after the strike ended, President Grover Cleveland conciliates organized labor after the strike and Congress designated Labor Day as a federal holiday. And that, my friends, is WHY we celebrate Labor Day.
Department of Labor did not become an Executive Branch department until 1913, and this year we celebrate its 101st birthday. I don’t even think I have enough room to write down all the agencies that have been created under Labor, but Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Office of Inspector General (OIG) are just two of many, many programs that exist for workers. So, you see, it was the workers that created Labor Day. Workers demanded a Department of Labor and workers are still demanding equal pay and equal rights in many parts of our world.
Yes, Labor Day still celebrates the common worker with its checkered past against government and big business and I imagine it will always be that way. To get a great ‘rookie’ scoop for younger kids, check out the cool series that includes one on Labor Day. Just remember that as we celebrate the start of the pro football season, the start of a new school year and enjoying the last days of summer, the Pullman workers rallied to make their work/life balance obtainable to everyone. And that, my friends, is something to celebrate!
Happy Labor Day to all you hard workers!
Labor Day (Rookie Read-About Holidays)
List Price: $ 5.95
Momma's Bacon 