--- title: The First Labor Day: The Bloody Strike Behind the Holiday description: First Monday of September, 1894: Labor Day is first observed as a national holiday canonical: https://time.com/4020710/first-labor-day/ author: Jennifer Latson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-07T14:30:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-14T01:50:29.000Z article:section: History og:title: The First Labor Day: The Bloody Strike Behind the Holiday og:description: First Monday of September, 1894: Labor Day is first observed as a national holiday og:url: https://time.com/4020710/first-labor-day/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0f164d6d965b423b/69886218cf40a82d71c3f86e/pullman.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Pullman Strike og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The First Labor Day: The Bloody Strike Behind the Holiday twitter:description: First Monday of September, 1894: Labor Day is first observed as a national holiday twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0f164d6d965b423b/69886218cf40a82d71c3f86e/pullman.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 02:18 video:published: 2015-09-01 section: business topics: Labor Day, minimum wage, wage inequality, income gap, working hours, worker health, paid vacation, labor protests, federal minimum wage, city minimum wage plans genre: data explainer, news tones: informative, critical, reflective, urgent emotions: concern (medium), frustration (medium), hope (low) sentiment: negative audience: American workers, policy observers, general news readers, labor advocates people: Barack Obama organizations: TIME content_suitability: health controversy [01:45-01:52]; financial distress [00:36-01:17] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # How a Bloody Railroad Strike Paved the Way for the First Labor Day > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-sub-2026q3/newsletters?i=02480091-3bf5-46a8-9026-098fce641aa1&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) * TIME Subscriptions: [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-sub-2026q3/subscribe?i=02480091-3bf5-46a8-9026-098fce641aa1&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Labor Day: By the Numbers [Watch (HLS stream): Labor Day: By the Numbers](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/x5jFeQCW.m3u8) (2:18)  _Published 2015-09-01. With the U.S. fight for a higher minimum wage in full swing, here's Labor Day, by the numbers._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary The video marks Labor Day 2015 by presenting a set of statistics about American workers, wages and working hours. It contrasts wage growth for the top 1% of earners with the bottom 90%, and describes the push for a higher minimum wage in several US cities and at the federal level. It also covers long working hours and the lack of guaranteed paid vacation for US workers compared with other countries. ## Key points - The average real wage increase since 1979 for the top 1% of earners is 138%, compared with 15% for the bottom 90%. (00:22) - Wages for the bottom 90% have been mostly stagnant since 2001, after most of their raises leveled off 14 years ago. (00:36) - New York, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles have a $15 minimum wage plan in place, and Washington, DC could join as early as 2016. (00:49) - 29 states have a state minimum wage higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. (01:02) - President Obama has been pushing to raise the federal minimum wage to $10. (01:25) - A US employee works about 47 hours each week on average, and nearly 40 percent report working more than 50 hours a week. (01:32) - Employees who work 55 or more hours per week are 33% more likely to have a stroke than those who work 35 to 40 hours per week. (01:45) - The US is the only advanced economy among those cited that does not require paid vacation for workers, unlike Canada, Italy, Germany and France. (02:02) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:07] Labor Day background and context. The video notes the history of Labor Day and the turbulent year for American workers. - [00:07 to 01:02] Wage gap and minimum wage efforts. Statistics compare wage growth for top earners and the bottom 90%, followed by city and state minimum wage developments. - [01:02 to 01:32] Federal minimum wage push. The federal minimum wage has not risen in six years, and the Obama administration has pushed for a $10 minimum. - [01:32 to 01:45] Long working hours and health. Average weekly hours and the share of workers exceeding 50 hours are presented, along with stroke risk for long hours. - [01:45 to 02:18] Paid vacation comparison. The US is contrasted with several countries that guarantee paid vacation, closing with a Labor Day sign-off. ## Key quotes - [01:02] narrator: "They said no to helping millions work their way out of poverty." - [01:45] narrator: "such a strenuous work week can effect your health" - [02:02] narrator: "the one and only country in the world with an advanced economy that doesn't require paid vacation for workers" ## Questions this video answers - How much have real wages for the top 1% of earners risen since 1979? [00:22] - How much have wages for the bottom 90% of earners risen since 1979? [00:30] - Which US cities have a $15 minimum wage plan in place? [00:49] - What is the current federal minimum wage and what has the Obama administration proposed? [01:25] - How do long working hours relate to stroke risk? [01:45] - How does US paid vacation policy compare with other advanced economies? [02:02] ## Content suitability - health controversy [01:45-01:52]: Mentions increased stroke likelihood associated with long work weeks. - financial distress [00:36-01:17]: Discusses stagnant wages and poverty for millions of workers. by [Jennifer Latson](https://time.com/author/jennifer-latson/) ## Jennifer Latson Updated: Dec 14, 2023 1:50 AM UTCPublished: Sep 7, 2015 2:30 PM UTC  A group of men stand on abandoned railway cars during the Pullman strike in Chicago, July 1894. A group of men stand on abandoned railway cars during the Pullman strike in Chicago, July 1894. Kean Collection / Getty Images by [Jennifer Latson](https://time.com/author/jennifer-latson/) ## Jennifer Latson Updated: Dec 14, 2023 1:50 AM UTCPublished: Sep 7, 2015 2:30 PM UTC It’s little more than a day off for shopping now, but when Labor Day was first observed, it wasn’t all fun and back-to-school sales. Its passage as a federal holiday, in 1894, was a sort of [peace offering from President Grover Cleveland](http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2091600%5F2091603%5F2091627,00.html) for the killing of a dozen or more striking railway workers. The strike began as unrest in the Illinois town founded by George Pullman, creator of the railroad sleeping car. The town, just outside Chicago, had been built as a utopian home for Pullman’s workers, but the utopia was designed to serve Pullman above all others, [according to PBS](http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/business-july-dec01-labor%5Fday%5F9-2/). “Its residents all worked for the Pullman company,” PBS notes, “their paychecks drawn from Pullman bank, and their rent, set by Pullman, deducted automatically from their weekly paychecks.” From 1880 to 1893, all seemed well in Pullman (the town), until an economic depression prompted Pullman (the man) to cut employees’ wages — even though their rents remained the same. The workers walked out. In solidarity, members of the American Railway Union (founded, [per TIME](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/printout/0,8816,870247,00.html), by “fiery Socialist Eugene Debs”) took up the cause, and its 150,000 members refused to work on trains carrying Pullman cars, prompting a nationwide transportation nightmare. It was, [according to _The Atlantic_](http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/09/when-labor-day-meant-something/379307/)_,_ America’s first true nationwide strike — and a major milestone for the labor movement. But it didn’t end well, for anyone. President Cleveland, under pressure from the railroad industry and the U.S. Postal Service, whose mail trains had ground to a halt, declared the strike a federal crime and sent troops to break it. David Ray Papke, the author of [_The Pullman Case_](http://www.amazon.com/Pullman-Case-Industrial-Landmark-American/dp/0700609547/ref=sr%5F1%5F1?ie=UTF8&qid=1441062159&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Pullman+Case), describes the rioting and arson that ensued, and was suppressed; while death counts vary by source, TIME called it “one of the bloodiest strikes in U.S. history.” ### Labor Day Parade, Detroit, 1938  Scenes from a Labor Day Parade in Detroit, 1938. William Vandivert—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Scenes from a Labor Day Parade in Detroit, 1938. William Vandivert—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Scenes from a Labor Day Parade in Detroit, 1938. William Vandivert—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Scenes from a Labor Day Parade in Detroit, 1938. William Vandivert—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Scenes from a Labor Day Parade in Detroit, 1938. William Vandivert—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Scenes from a Labor Day Parade in Detroit, 1938. William Vandivert—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Scenes from a Labor Day Parade in Detroit, 1938. William Vandivert—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Scenes from a Labor Day Parade in Detroit, 1938. William Vandivert—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Scenes from a Labor Day Parade in Detroit, 1938. William Vandivert—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Scenes from a Labor Day Parade in Detroit, 1938. William Vandivert—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Scenes from a Labor Day Parade in Detroit, 1938. William Vandivert—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images While the strike came to an abrupt end, and Pullman employees promised never again to unionize, Cleveland’s popularity suffered, especially among the labor movement’s working-class core. Making Labor Day a national holiday was the president’s election-year attempt at an olive branch, per PBS, although it didn’t succeed in winning him another term. Over time, however, as tensions eased between unions and the establishment, the holiday came to have less to do with labor leaders than with retail figures. “\[W\]hile the day still honors the U.S. workingman,” [TIME noted in 1962](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,870129-1,00.html), “it has evolved over the years into a much more significant date in the life of the American consumer. No seasonal divide so sharply separates the living and buying patterns of men, women and children across the land.” In its 1962 roundup, TIME summarized Labor Day’s implications in commercial, not historical, terms: American consumers switch from gin to whiskey, stock up on light bulbs, and invest in new carpets and furniture. White clothing, of course, disappears from store shelves — and even white accessories sell “at fire-sale rates.” In supermarkets in the early ’60s, Labor Day also heralded an increase in sales of stew meat, and a decline in cold cuts and hot dogs. TIME lamented: “…down goes the lowly frankfurter; after Labor Day First National Stores, a chain of supermarkets in New England, New York and New Jersey, sell 50% fewer frankfurters and 65% fewer hot dog rolls.” **_Read the full story from 1962, here in the TIME archives_**: [The Great Divide](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,870129-1,00.html) **Correction August 29** _The original version of this story misstated the year in which the photo above was taken. It was taken in 1894, not 1984._ ## Transcript [00:00] Since 1894 the U. S. had taken off the first Monday of [00:03] September to honor workers around the country. [00:07] [ MUSIC ] Labor Day 2015 comes during a year that's [00:11] been turbulent for American workers. So with the U. S. [00:14] fight for a higher minimum wage in full swing here's [00:17] Labor Day by the numbers. First. 138 %. The [00:22] average pay increase in real wages since 1979 for the [00:26] top 1 % of earners. Compare that with the bottom 90 % [00:30] who have seen their wages rise by 15 % in that same [00:33] time. To make matters worse, most of the wage raises [00:36] for the bottom 90 % levelled off 14 years ago. And for [00:40] them, wages have been mostly stagnant since 2001. [00:43] That being said the protests and strikes throughout the [00:46] year have made a difference in many US cities. Four [00:49] cities, New York, Seattle, San Francisco, and Los [00:52] Angeles now have a $ 15 minimum wage plan in place. [00:56] Washington, DC could join that small list as early as [00:59] 2016. And while many major cities are vying for the [01:02] elusive $ 15 minimum 29 states have a state minimum [01:06] wage that's higher than the federal minimum wage of [01:10] $ 7. 25 per hour. They said no to helping millions [01:13] work their way out of poverty. It's been six years since [01:17] the federal minimum wage rose from $ 5. 15 per hour [01:20] to $ 7. 25. Over the past year president Obama [01:25] has been pushing to raise the federal minimum to [01:27] $ 10. This push for a higher wage from the Obama [01:30] administration comes at a time when American [01:32] laborers are working more than ever. A US employee [01:35] works about 47 hours each week on average and and [01:39] nearly 40 percent of employees report working more [01:42] than 50 hours a week and such a strenuous work week [01:45] can effect your health Employees who work 55 or more [01:49] hours per week are 33 % more likely to have a stroke [01:52] compared with those that work 35 to 40 hours per [01:55] week. The last number is one. As in the one and only [01:59] country in the world with an advanced economy that [02:02] doesn't require paid vacation for workers. Unlike the [02:05] U. S ., countries like Canada, Italy, Germany and [02:08] France All offer guaranteed paid vacation time. So with [02:12] those numbers in mind, fire up the grill, crack open a [02:15] beer and try to enjoy Labor Day the best you can. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4020710/first-labor-day/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4020710/first-labor-day/"},"headline":"How a Bloody Railroad Strike Paved the Way for the First Labor Day","datePublished":"2015-09-07T14:30:10.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-14T01:50:29.000Z","description":"First Monday of September, 1894: Labor Day is first observed as a national holiday","url":"https://time.com/4020710/first-labor-day/","keywords":["Labor","Holidays"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0f164d6d965b423b/69886218cf40a82d71c3f86e/pullman.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jennifer Latson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jennifer-latson/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0f164d6d965b423b/69886218cf40a82d71c3f86e/pullman.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Pullman Strike","caption":"Pullman Strike","creditText":"Kean Collection / Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4020710/first-labor-day/","name":"How a Bloody Railroad Strike Paved the Way for the First Labor Day"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"What Happened to the American Union?","description":"In 2014, the American labor union membership was at 11.1 percent. 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