Labor Day Holiday Weekend

[DMB Online Ministries]

"May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us--yes, establish the work of our hands", Psalm 90:17.

Through the years the nation gave increasing emphasis to Labor Day. The first governmental recognition came through municipal ordinances passed during 1885 and 1886. From them developed the movement to secure state legislation.

The first state bill was introduced into the New York legislature, but the first to become law was passed by Oregon on February 21, 1887. During the year four more states — Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York — created the Labor Day holiday by legislative enactment. By the end of the decade Connecticut, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania had followed suit.

By 1894, 23 other states had adopted the holiday in honor of workers, and on June 28 of that year, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday. In actually all fifty states have made "Labor Day" a state holiday.

"Labor Day differs in every essential way from the other holidays of the year in any country," said Samuel Gompers, founder and longtime president of the American Federation of Labor. "All other holidays are in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles of man's prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another. Labor Day...is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation."

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.


May you all have a safe and blessed Labor Day Weekend!!

Please be mindful however of those who can not take off work this weekend such as police officers, fire fighters, EMA and EMS workers along with health workers, hosptial staff etc.
God Bless you, Rev. D.M. Barry


Extracts from:
History of Labor Day
http://www.dol.gov/opa/aboutdol/laborday.htm