<P> There was disagreement among labor unions at this time about when a holiday celebrating workers should be , with some advocating for continued emphasis of the September march - and - picnic date while others sought the designation of the more politically - charged date of May 1 . Conservative Democratic President Grover Cleveland was one of those concerned that a labor holiday on May 1 would tend to become a commemoration of the Haymarket Affair and would strengthen socialist and anarchist movements that backed the May 1 commemoration around the globe . In 1887 , he publicly supported the September Labor Day holiday as a less inflammatory alternative . The date was formally adopted as a United States federal holiday in 1894 . </P>
<P> There was disagreement among labor unions at this time about when a holiday celebrating workers should be , with some advocating for continued emphasis of the September march - and - picnic date while others sought the designation of the more politically - charged date of May 1 . Conservative Democratic President Grover Cleveland was one of those concerned that a labor holiday on May 1 would tend to become a commemoration of the Haymarket Affair and would strengthen socialist and anarchist movements that backed the May 1 commemoration around the globe . In 1887 , he publicly supported the September Labor Day holiday as a less inflammatory alternative . The date was formally adopted as a United States federal holiday in 1894 . </P>
when did labor day became a federal holiday
when did labor day became a federal holiday
1894
1894