To the editor:

Why do we celebrate Labor Day? Is it because it marks the end of the summer season, the BBQ’s, the store sales, or another day off? Or is it a day to celebrate the contributions and sacrifices of working-class people to the material wealth of this country? Rather than being just another holiday, we choose to remember it as a day for honoring the past struggles of the working class to form labor unions, to attain better wages and benefits, to live an affordable lifestyle for themselves and their families, and for their strivings toward economic justice for all workers. We choose to remember the many devoted unsung heroes who gave it all in order for us to celebrate this holiday.

On Sept. 5, 1882, the New York Central Council held its first Labor Day parade, with 10,000 workers marching on their unpaid time off. In 1887, Oregon became the first state to recognize Labor Day, and in that same year Colorado celebrated it on the first Monday in September. Also, in 1887, Massachusetts became an early participant in Labor Day, which reached 30 states by 1894. The Pullman Strike of 1894, called by Eugene Debs of the American Railway Union, was brutally suppressed by federal troops per order of President Grover Cleveland. On June 28, 1894, President Cleveland, to appease labor, established Labor Day to be observed on the first Monday of September, but only for federal workers. With the wave of strikes throughout the USA during the Great Depression of the 1930s, private sector workers were finally included in the observance.

On Labor Day 2026, amidst the parades and other celebrations, and while honoring the legacy and sacrifices of the labor movement, it’s worth stopping to consider the problems we face today as the working class. Mass layoffs due to AI implementation, privatization of government services like the Post Office, the dismantling of essential government programs and services, the extreme wealth accumulation of the top 1%, and all of this while the federal government tries every possible measure to break labor unions in this country. The North Shore Labor Council stands in solidarity with the workers in the United States and workers everywhere as we struggle to achieve a better life for ourselves and our families.

North Shore Labor Council, AFL-CIO

The post Letter: Why do we celebrate Labor Day? appeared first on Itemlive.

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