Why do Americans and Canadians celebrate Labor Day? -Kenneth C. Davis — Transcript

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1. 0:06How's this for a strange idea:
2. 0:08a day off from work in honor of work itself?
3. 0:12Actually, that is what Labor Day,
4. 0:14celebrated in the United States and Canada
5. 0:17on the first Monday of every September,
6. 0:19is all about.
7. 0:21The first American Labor Day
8. 0:23was celebrated in New York City
9. 0:25on September 5th, 1882,
10. 0:28as thousands of workers and their families
11. 0:30came to Union Square for a day in the park.
12. 0:34It was not a national holiday
13. 0:36but had been organized by a union
14. 0:38to honor workers and their hard efforts
15. 0:41with a rare day of rest,
16. 0:42halfway between July 4th and Thanksgiving.
17. 0:47There were picnics and a parade,
18. 0:49but there were also protests.
19. 0:51The workers had gathered,
20. 0:53not just to rest and celebrate,
21. 0:55but to demand fair wages,
22. 0:57the end of child labor,
23. 1:00and the right to organize into unions.
24. 1:04During the period known as
25. 1:05The Industrial Revolution,
26. 1:07many jobs were difficult, dirty and dangerous.
27. 1:11People worked for twelve hours,
28. 1:13six days a week,
29. 1:14without fringe benefits,
30. 1:16such as vacations, health care and pensions,
31. 1:20and if you were young, chances are
32. 1:22you were doing manual labor
33. 1:24instead of your ABCs and fractions.
34. 1:27Children as young as ten
35. 1:30worked in some of the most hazardous places,
36. 1:32like coal mines or factories filled with boiling vats
37. 1:36or dangerous machines.
38. 1:38Trying to win better pay, shorter hours
39. 1:41and safer conditions
40. 1:43workers had begun to form labor unions
41. 1:45in America and Canada,
42. 1:47but the companies they worked for
43. 1:49often fought hard to keep unions out
44. 1:52and to supress strikes.
45. 1:54At times, this led to violent battles
46. 1:57between workers and business owners
47. 1:59with the owners often backed up by the police,
48. 2:02or even the military.
49. 2:05In the following years,
50. 2:06the idea of Labor Day caught on in America
51. 2:09with official celebrations reaching 30 states.
52. 2:13But then came the violent
53. 2:14Haymarket Square Riot of 1886,
54. 2:18which led to the deaths of several policemen
55. 2:20and workers in Chicago
56. 2:22and the execution of four union leaders.
57. 2:26After that, many labor and political groups
58. 2:29around the world
59. 2:30had begun to mark Haymarket Square on May 1st,
60. 2:34which became known as
61. 2:35International Workers' Day.
62. 2:38In 1894, President Grover Cleveland
63. 2:41signed the law making Labor Day a
64. 2:44federal holiday in America,
65. 2:46only days after he had sent
66. 2:4812,000 soldiers to end
67. 2:50a violent railroad strike
68. 2:52that resulted in the death of several people.
69. 2:55The original September date was kept,
70. 2:58partly to avoid the more radical associations of May 1st.
71. 3:02Canada also created its Labor Day in 1894.
72. 3:08But, in spite of this new holiday,
73. 3:10it would be a long time before the changes
74. 3:12that workers wanted
75. 3:14became a reality.
76. 3:16In 1938, during the Great Depression
77. 3:19that left millions without jobs,
78. 3:21President Franklin D. Roosevelt
79. 3:23signed a law calling for an eight-hour work day,
80. 3:26a five-day work week,
81. 3:28and an end to child labor,
82. 3:30some of the first federal protections for American workers.
83. 3:35As America and Canada celebrate Labor Day,
84. 3:38most of the two countries' children enjoy
85. 3:41a day off from school.
86. 3:43But it is important to remember
87. 3:45that there was a time that
88. 3:46everyday was a labor day for children in America and Canada,
89. 3:51and unfortunately,
90. 3:53the same fact remains true
91. 3:55for millions of children around the world today.