This coming Monday is Labor Day and in the past it has always been just another day off work or a day to labor in my parents’ yard. But it is more than that. It is a holiday set aside to honor the American worker. Labor Day became an official national holiday in 1894 and is traditionally celebrated on the first Monday in September. The holiday celebrates the working class contributions to the strength, prosperity, and well being of our country. It is not clear who founded the holiday. It has been attributed to Peter J. McGuire, general secretary to the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a cofounder of the American Federation of Labor. Many believe that it was Matthew Maguire, a machinist, who proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as the secretary to the Central Labor Union in New York.
Regardless it was a day to honor the everyman laborer. So, as you sit in your air conditioned offices, or out on your porches grilling up burgers and hot dogs, take a moment to think of those laborers who make this country great.