Happy Labor Day!

This first Monday in September many families will wind up their vacations. Millions will have one last seasonal fling around the barbecue and bid adieu to the end of a long, hot summer. Labor Day has come to be regarded as a great long weekend for North Americans before they buckle down to work after their summer break.

Great Lakes-Seaway News believes that it is important, from time to time to remeber the origins and true meanings of our holidays and so we take this opportunity to remind ourselves and our faithful readers of the how Labor Day in the United States and Labour Day in Canada came to be.

The origins of Labour Day in Canada actually pre-date the origins of Labor Day in the United States. Canada's workers holiday can be traced back to April 14, 1872 when a parade was staged in support of the Toronto Typographical Union's strike for a 58-hour work-week. The Toronto Trades Assembly (TTA) called its 27 unions together to demonstrate in solidarity with the Typographical Union which had been on strike since March 25.  George Brown, Canadian politician and editor of the Toronto Globe hit back at his striking employees, pressing police to hit the Typographical Union with a conspiracy charge..

At that time laws criminalizing organized labor union activity were still on books in Canada and police arrested 24 leaders of the Typographical Union. Undeterred, labour leaders decided to call another demonstration on September 3 to protest the arrests. Seven unions marched in Ottawa, prompting a promise by Canadian Prime Minister John A. MacDonald to repeal Canada's anti-union laws. Parliament passed the Trade Union Act on June 14 of the following year.

The Toronto Trades and Labour Council (successor to the TTA) held similar celebrations every spring. American Peter J. McGuire, a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, was asked to speak at a labour festival in Toronto, Canada on July 22, 1882. Upon his return to the United States, McGuire organized a similar parade based on the Canadian event on September 5, 1882 in New York City, the first such events in the U.S. 

On July 23, 1894, Canadian Prime Minister John Thompson and his government made Labour Day, to be held in September, an official holiday.

While Labour Day in Canada came about to celebrate a political victory for the organized labor movement, Labor Day in the United States was actually born out of tragedy. Labor Day became a federal holiday in 1894 largely due to the efforts of President Grover Cleveland to reach a reconciliation with the American Labor movement after a number of workers died or were injured at the hands of the and U.S. Marshals and troops used to put down famous Pullman Strike. That bloody incident led President Cleveland to that making amends with the labor movement should be his top political priority. Just six days after the end of the Pullman strike legislation making Labor Day a national holiday was rushed through the U.S. Congress unanimously and signed into law.

The form for the celebration of Labor Day was outlined in the first proposal of the holiday: A street parade to exhibit to the public "the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations," followed by a festival for the workers and their families. This became the pattern for Labor Day celebrations. Speeches by prominent men and women were introduced later, as more emphasis was placed upon the economic and civil significance of the holiday. Still later, by a resolution of the American Federation of Labor convention of 1909, the Sunday preceding Labor Day was adopted as Labor Sunday and dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the American labor movement.

It is only appropriate that we too take a moment to celebrate the true meaning of our holiday to recognize the achievements and contributions of the organized labor movement in North America. The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System and Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway maritime industry owe much to the contributions of the labor movements of the United States and Canada. From the longshoremen who load and unload the cargo on the ships to the captains and crews of the ships themselves, it's fair to say that the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System might not exist today without the hard work of the men and women of the organized labor movements of both nations. In fact, Great Lakes-Seaway News itself is made possible, in part, through the support of the Great Lakes District Council of the International Longshoremen's Association and the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association. 

Happy Labor Day and Thank You!