Why and when did Labor Day become a federal holiday?
In the 1880s, the emerging labor movement proposed a holiday to celebrate workers and give them a day off. Two union leaders, Matthew Maguire and Peter J. McGuire, took the lead. In 1887, Oregon became the first state to declare Labor Day a holiday. When Labor Day was made a national holiday in 1894 with the support of President Grover Cleveland, 30 states were already celebrating it.
The first Monday in September was picked because of weather and calendar proximity between the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving. Labor Day has also become the unofficial end of summer. For years, it marked the start of a new school year. Many sporting seasons and events begin during or after Labor Day weekend. It’s also a time for retailers to unveil discounts and sales.
But what are people doing this holiday?
The latest YouGov poll from the Economist found that 37% of people will stay home and relax this year. Twenty-four percent will participate in family events or watch television, 22% will do household chores, 20% will go to a cookout or picnic, and 15% will do yardwork and gardening. Eleven percent will go to work.
Men are more likely to watch sports, 18% vs. 8%, and women are only slightly more likely to do household chores, 24% vs. 22%. Republicans tend to stay home and relax a bit more than Democrats, 41% vs. 35%, but Democrats are more likely to watch television, 30% vs. 25%.
Looking at concerns related to workers and employment, the same poll found that only 18% of people expect there will be more jobs in the United States over the next six months, 34% expect the same amount, and 22% predict there will be fewer. Democrats are much more likely to expect the nation to produce more jobs than Republicans, 28% vs. 11%. The party in power tends to be more optimistic about economic matters.
Despite a low unemployment rate, nearly 4 in 10 people said they are worried about losing their job. Worry about job loss is greatest among 18- to 29-year-olds, at 49%. Sixty percent of adults, should they lose their job, said they expect it would be hard to find a new one that paid as much, and 68% of those 65 and older said finding new employment would be hard, as do 58% of black people, 64% of Hispanics, and 65% of Republicans.
Sixty-one percent of people said they’re happy with their current job. Nearly 3 in 10 are “neither happy nor unhappy,” and 10% are unhappy.
While union activity may be increasing in some places, membership has taken a dive over the past two decades. In 1983, 20% of workers were union members. It’s now about half that, at 10.3%. An enormous gap has evolved between rates of public employee unionization, 33.9%, and private sector unionization, 6.1%.
Happy Labor Day!
Ron Faucheux is a nonpartisan political analyst. He publishes LunchtimePolitics.com, a free nationwide newsletter on public opinion and is the author of Running for Office.
