Labor Day 2024: When is Labor Day 2024 & 2025?

Below you can find dates of Labor Day 2024 and Labor Day 2025. In the table you can check how many days you have been on holiday, which week is the holiday and which day of the month.

Labor Day

Labor Day is an annual holiday to celebrate the economic and social contributions of workers to the wealth, strength and well-being of the country. In the United States, Labor Day is a federal holiday held on the first Monday of September each year.

Labor Day 2024 will be observed on Monday.

Labor Day has its origins in the labor union movement, specifically the eight-hour day movement, which advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for rest. In the United States, the first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882 only in New York City. The idea spread widely and quickly with the growth of labor organizations. Finally, after 3 years from the first celebration, in 1885, Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers of the United States.

Oregon was the first state to make this date a holiday on February 21, 1887. By the time it became a federal holiday countrywide in 1894, thirty states were already celebrating Labor Day officially.

In this article you will find the Labor Day meaning and importance, we will look at the historical development of this special day, its forms of celebration, the institutions that are open and closed.

What is Labor Day?

Labor Day in the United States of America is a public holiday celebrated annually on the first Monday in September. It honors the American labor movement and the contributions that workers have made to the strength, prosperity, laws, and well-being of their country. It is observed on Monday of the long weekend known as Labor Day Weekend.

In 1887 Oregon became the first state of the United States to make Labor Day an official public holiday. All U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and the United States territories have subsequently made Labor Day a legal holiday.

According to research, a mechanic named Matthew Maguire, who was the secretary of the New York Central Workers Union, offered this holiday in 1882. Another view is that Peter J. McGuire of the American Federation of Labor first proposed this idea in May 1882.

Before Labor Day was promoted by the Central Labor Union and the Knights of Labor, beginning in the late 19th century, as the trade union and labor movements grew, trade unionists had proposed that a day be set aside to celebrate labor.

In 1887, Oregon was the first state of the United States to make Labor Day an official public holiday. By the time it became an official federal holiday in 1894, thirty states in the United States officially recognized Labor Day.

Canada's Labor Day is also celebrated on the first Monday of September. Labor Day sometimes creates confusion between the other day related to workers called May day. The date of May 1 emerged in 1886 as an alternative holiday for the celebration of labor, later becoming known as International Workers' Day. The date had its origins at the 1885 convention of the American Federation of Labor, which passed a resolution calling for adoption of the eight-hour day effective May 1, 1886. While negotiation was envisioned for achievement of the shortened work day, use of the strike to enforce this demand was recognized, with May 1 advocated as a date for coordinated strike action. More than 80 countries celebrate International Workers' Day on May 1, the ancient European holiday of May Day. May Day was chosen by the Second International of socialist and communist parties to commemorate the Haymarket affair, which occurred in Chicago on May 4, 1886.

When is Labor Day 2024?

Labor Day 2024 will be held on Monday this year.

Labor Day is a day set apart as a legal holiday in nearly all of the States and Territories of the United States. In 1882 the Knights of Labor held their general assembly in New York City during the month of September, which on the 5th reviewed a great parade organized by the Central Labor Union of that city. The next year a parade was held on the first Monday in September, and in 1884, on the resolution of George R. Lloyd, one of the Knights of Labor, it was decided that all future parades should be held on that day, and that the day should be known as Labor Day.

Workingmen's organizations all over the country then began a movement to induce the State legislatures to declare the day a legal holiday, and on March 15, 1887, Colorado led the way, to be quickly followed by New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts.

The great majority of the States have selected the first Monday in September as Labor Day. In 1903 the only States in which Labor Day was not a legal holiday were Mississippi, Nevada, North Dakota, and Louisiana.

According to one history of Labor Day, the event originated in connection with a General Assembly of the Knights of Labor convened in New York City in September 1882.

In connection with this Knights assembly, a public parade of various labor organizations was held on September 5, leading by Central Labor Union (CLU) of New York. Secretary of the CLU Matthew Maguire declared the first proposing that the national Labor Day observation on the first Monday of each September after the remarkable public demonstration.

An alternative thesis is maintained that the idea of Labor Day belongs to Peter J. McGuire, a vice president of the American Federation of Labor, who put forward the initial proposal in the spring of 1882. McGuire, on May 8th, 1882, made a proposition to the Central Labor Union in New York City saying that a day should become a "general holiday for the laboring classes".

According to McGuire he further recommended that the event should begin with a street parade as a public demonstration of organized labor's solidarity and strength, with the march followed by a picnic, to which participating local unions could sell tickets as a fundraiser. He also suggested the first Monday in September as an ideal date for such a public celebration, related to optimum weather and the date's place on the calendar, between the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving public holidays.

Labor Day picnics and other public gatherings frequently featured speeches by prominent labor leaders. In 1909 the American Federation of Labor convention designated the Sunday preceding Labor Day as "Labor Sunday", to be dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement. This secondary date failed to gain significant traction in popular culture.

Labor Day is called also the unofficial end of summer because it marks the end of the cultural summer season and beginning of the autumn. Many US people take their two-week vacations during the two weeks ending Labor Day weekend. Many fall activities, such as school and sports begin about this time of the year.

In the U.S. state of Virginia, the amusement park industry has successfully lobbied for legislation requiring most school districts in the state to have their first day of school after Labor Day, in order to give families another weekend to visit amusement parks in the state. The relevant statute has been nicknamed the "Kings Dominion law" after one such park.

 

What is open and closed on Labor Day 2024?

Here you may find information about which public buildings and institutions are open and which ones are closed on Labor Day 2024. 

Is There Mail Delivery on Labor Day 2024?

As it is a federal holiday, there is no mail delivery on Labor Day 2024, because all post offices are closed.

Are Banks Open or Closed on Labor Day 2024?

Labor Day is considered one of the main banking holidays of the Federal Reserve. Almost all banks and branches are closed on Labor Day 2024. You may check with your local bank branch or nearby branches for confirmation.

Are Schools Open or Closed on Labor Day 2024?

In the United States, many school districts resume classes around the Labor Day weekend. And many begin the week before, making Labor Day weekend the first three-day weekend of the school calendar, while others return the Tuesday following Labor Day, allowing families one final vacation before the school year begins. Many districts across the Midwest are opting to begin school after Labor Day. Therefore, it is important to check the calendar of each school to learn if they are open or closed on Labor Day 2024.

Are Malls Going to Be Open on Labor Day 2024?

To take advantage of large numbers of potential customers with time to shop, Labor Day has become an important weekend for discounts by many retailers in the United States, especially for back-to-school sales. Some retailers claim that Labor Day is one of the largest sale dates of the year, second only to the Christmas season's Black Friday. In short, all malls and shopping centers are at your service on Labor Day 2024 for you to go shopping as you wish.

Check out the Labor Day in the following years.

• 2024 Holidays
• 2025 Holidays
• 2026 Holidays
• 2027 Holidays