labor day was recognized as an official holiday on the first monday in september.
when was labor day recognized as an official holiday?
first monday in september
in the united states and canada, a september holiday, called labor or labour day, was first proposed in the 1880s. in 1882, matthew maguire, a machinist, first proposed a labor day holiday on the first monday of september while serving as secretary of the central labor union (clu) of new york. others argue that it was first proposed by peter j. mcguire of the american federation of labor in may 1882, after witnessing the annual labour festival held in toronto, canada. in 1887, oregon was the first state of the united states to make it an official public holiday. by the time it became an official federal holiday in 1894, thirty us states officially celebrated labor day. thus by 1887 in north america, labour day was an established, official holiday but in september, not on 1 may.
international workers' day
even though el día del trabajador originated in 1889 in spain, it was not declared an official holiday until 1931 with the beginning of the second republic. largo caballero, then spain's minister of labor, had proposed that the date be made an official holiday, and within weeks of the second republic's proclamation the proposal was accepted. upon acceptance, an estimated 300,000 people marched in madrid led by the ‘republic’ (represented by a girl dressed as such), ending where then president niceto alcala-zamora celebrated ‘the end of social antagonism’. with this declaration, the complaints and requests of the workers from all over the country would go directly to the government, allowing a new ‘wave’ of public power.
labor day in spain