2008 Woodie Awards
Labor Day celebration lacks meaning and strays far from origin
Benjamin Billman Billman
Issue date: 9/6/07 Section: Opinions
- Page 1 of 1
Labor Day.
The term itself seems off somehow.
Why do they have a day called Labor Day if people have to work on it?
Why don't they call it "Not-Labor Day" or something different?
To tell the truth, unless you are one of those lucky people who have the good fortune to work at a bank or a federal institution, the day itself does not affect you at all.
However, the strangest part about the day is that it has always coincided with school, at least for me.
There are places in the United States that begin school early, but as far as us lucky Minnesota college students are concerned, Labor Day is the day of rest (or maybe not) before the daily grind of school begins.
However, I have always seen it as one of our least understood holidays, ranking right up there with Washington's birthday.
Although it used to be, it is not even celebrated on his birthday.
In 1971, Congress passed an act called "The Uniform Monday Holiday Act," which changed certain federal holidays from exact dates to Mondays in the given month, thus proving the opposite of progress is Con-gress.
But either way, back to Labor Day.
The holiday began in 1882, instituted by the Central Labor Union to create a day off for workers.
It was designated a federal holiday (Valentine's Day isn't even a federal holiday, go figure) in 1894.
Traditionally, the holiday has been celebrated by a parade (the first parade given by the Knights of Labor on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 1882, in New York City) by employees having the day off work.
In 1886, there was a general strike on Labor Day, then celebrated in May by workers, eventually leading to the eight-hour work week and by speeches given by prominent businessmen.
In my opinion, this holiday has begun to wane somewhat in the past years, becoming more of a milestone on the calendar ("Oh look, we can't go to the bank tomorrow. Oh well, we can go Tuesday.") than an actual celebration.
So Labor Day, when students are moving in or laboring to move in (as a Husky Hauler, I was right out there with you), think about the roots of the holiday.
Because an informed student body...well, is just a student body who knows what Labor Day is all about.
But not a whole lot more.
The term itself seems off somehow.
Why do they have a day called Labor Day if people have to work on it?
Why don't they call it "Not-Labor Day" or something different?
To tell the truth, unless you are one of those lucky people who have the good fortune to work at a bank or a federal institution, the day itself does not affect you at all.
However, the strangest part about the day is that it has always coincided with school, at least for me.
There are places in the United States that begin school early, but as far as us lucky Minnesota college students are concerned, Labor Day is the day of rest (or maybe not) before the daily grind of school begins.
However, I have always seen it as one of our least understood holidays, ranking right up there with Washington's birthday.
Although it used to be, it is not even celebrated on his birthday.
In 1971, Congress passed an act called "The Uniform Monday Holiday Act," which changed certain federal holidays from exact dates to Mondays in the given month, thus proving the opposite of progress is Con-gress.
But either way, back to Labor Day.
The holiday began in 1882, instituted by the Central Labor Union to create a day off for workers.
It was designated a federal holiday (Valentine's Day isn't even a federal holiday, go figure) in 1894.
Traditionally, the holiday has been celebrated by a parade (the first parade given by the Knights of Labor on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 1882, in New York City) by employees having the day off work.
In 1886, there was a general strike on Labor Day, then celebrated in May by workers, eventually leading to the eight-hour work week and by speeches given by prominent businessmen.
In my opinion, this holiday has begun to wane somewhat in the past years, becoming more of a milestone on the calendar ("Oh look, we can't go to the bank tomorrow. Oh well, we can go Tuesday.") than an actual celebration.
So Labor Day, when students are moving in or laboring to move in (as a Husky Hauler, I was right out there with you), think about the roots of the holiday.
Because an informed student body...well, is just a student body who knows what Labor Day is all about.
But not a whole lot more.