As you fire up the grill this weekend, thank Matthew Maguire. This Paterson machinist was among those who staged the first Labor Day parade in New York in 1882. Twelve years later, thanks to Maguire and others from trade unions like the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, President Grover Cleveland made Labor Day a national holiday.
Over the past century, labor unions have fought for more than just this workers’ holiday, struggling to improve wages, hours and working conditions. Early on, the courts considered union and group bargaining to be illegal, and employers would not negotiate with representatives. Laborers didn’t give up. In 1935, under President Franklin Roosevelt, the National Labor Relations Act and other laws required employers to bargain with unions.
Forty-hour work weeks, workplace safety, vacation time, benefits, pensions, even lunch breaks — these rights were secured by unions. Whether you’re a union member or not, public or private sector, take a moment today and give thanks to those who came before us in the American labor movement. It’s time for our generation to carry the fight forward, and to renew and preserve the American Dream for the next generation — the workers of tomorrow and our nation’s future.
– Dianne Douthat, Wayne