Labor Day celebration in Gastonia, North Carolina in 1934. Photo by Getty Bettmann.
Throughout the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s, U.S. citizens worked in unsustainable and hazardous conditions, according to Norwood Secondary College. Employers often demanded long hours and hard work in place of worker’s safety.
The average employee worked anywhere from 12 to 16 hours a day, six days a week.
Wages for the working-class were below the amount necessary to take care of oneself or a family. Employees were offered minimal workers' rights.
Factory floors were dirty, and machines were poorly maintained and were known to catch fire. Workers experienced frequent injuries. The economic value of cheap labor led to employers to ignore working conditions that are now regulated.
Women and children earned one-third to one-half the amount as their adult male counterparts. Black workers were paid nearly nothing, faced discrimination and were transitioning out of enslavement or still enduring it.
Low wages, unsafe workplaces, and discrimination, led activists to push for a holiday that recognized workers' rights and efforts, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Labor Day has been observed for over 130 years since it was first celebrated on Sept. 5, 1882, when 2,000 people marched down city streets.
It is a day of recognition for achievements made by U.S. workers and their demand for equity, better pay and safer working conditions.
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