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Labor Day/Labour DayThe American and Canadian celebration of labor: a long stretch from May DayThe North American Labor Day is a holiday that has, by all considerations, deviated far from its origins.
On the first Monday in September, Canadians and Americans celebrate Labor Day. To the majority, Labor Day weekend means one last chance to enjoy a long weekend before school starts and summer goes. Millions take to the outdoors with picnic blankets, coolers, and barbecue supplies. There are fun parades, cook-off and runs to raise money for charities. But the vast majority of the revelers are ignorant of the original purpose of the holiday, which is to celebrate the social and political struggles and successes of the labor movement. This is ironic, because this observance originated in the United States, in Chicago (read International Workers'/Labor Day), and from there on out became a truly international holiday known as "International Workers' Day" or, more popularly, "May Day". It is called "May Day" because it is observed on 1 May all over the world... except in North America. After the Second Marxist National (the international conference of socialist and labor parties) adopted May 1 as the International Labor Day in 1889, the world followed. The Americans, however, shied away from any radical, socialist or communist associations, and in 1894 President Grover Cleveland's decreed that the celebration be moved to the first Monday of September. The American Federation of Labor did not protest. A month later, the Canadian government under Sir Robert Thompson followed suit. Fear of anything "red" was so great that during the Cold War, in 1955, Eisenhower even changed the name to "Loyalty Day". What happened to Labor Day is a sign of what became of the labor movement. A day of protest for a dignified and humane working situation is now a picnic in the park and another SUV Sales Event for an increasingly de-unionized working class. The situation is worse in the United States (in 2006, only 12.5% of the work force is unionized) than in Canada (30%). So while on May Day each year tens of thousands march all over Europe, in Japan, Russia and elsewhere, American and Canadian cities see a trickle of fifty or so isolated protesters. A notable exception was 1 May 2006, when the US was shaken by a country-wide strike and 1.5 million protestors. Ironically, the "Great American Boycott" was organized by immigrant workers rallying against House Resolution 4437. In a final irony, many American media identified that now truly International Labor Day as "the Mexican Labor Day". Related article:
The copyright of the article Labor Day/Labour Day in Holiday Entertaining is owned by Katrien Vander Straeten. Permission to republish Labor Day/Labour Day in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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