In the 1930s, strikes like the one at the Paterson Silk Factory helped workers secure fair wages and decent working conditions. The Labor Day holiday as we know it grew out of the efforts of labor unions over a century ago. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, records indicate the holiday was first proposed in the late 19th century. In 1894, Congress passed the act which made the first Monday in September of each year a holiday.
Labor unions are the negotiators and watchdogs for the American workforce.
Craft guilds and industrial unions Guilds were the seed of modern labor unions in the U.S. Groups of highly-trained printers, carpenters, tailors, and weavers in the colonial age banded together to maintain quality standards and to ensure employers hired skilled laborers from home. With the invention of the steam engine and other industrial advancements, the personality of the American workforce began to change. One of the most important was the Knights of Labor, which inaugurated the Labor Day holiday in 1882. The craft unions were opposed to the composition of the Knights of Labor's membership, which included both skilled and unskilled laborers. Early strikes and conflicts during this period included the United Mine Workers and the Danbury Hatters case in 1902.