Happy Labor Day! Hopefully you are one of the majority of workers who are not stuck working on this awesome labor free holiday. Here's a few facts about the holiday that you may not have known!
The first Labor Day was celebrated in New York City back on Tuesday Sept. 5, 1882. The event was organized by the Central Labor Union, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
More than 10,000 workers marched in the first Labor Day parade, protesting 16 hour workdays and were fighting to have an eight-hour workday.
In 1884, the holiday began to be observed on the first Monday of September as the Central Labor Union encouraged other labor groups to join with them.
Ten years later in June 1994, Congress voted to make Labor Day a national federal holiday.
Did you know that Labor Day is also celebrated in Canada? Other nations also celebrate the labor movement but it is called a "May Day" celebration in those countries.
More than 3 million people spent more than an hour and a half commuting to work in 2010 (and let’s not forget they had to go back, too!)
The average commute is more reasonable: 25.3 minutes.
2010 median earnings for full time workers: $36,931 for women and $47,715 for men.
Labor Day is celebrated on the same day in Canada.
Canadian Labor Day started in 1872 as a demonstration for workers’ rights in Toronto.
In Canada, Labor Day became a legal holiday (the first Monday in September) in 1874.
In America in the 1800s, many workers used to work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The Adamson Act of 1916 set up the 8 hour workday.