From one subject to another
Did you know?
It is because of Canada that North America
celebrates Labor this September.
All workers in Quebec knows: the first weekend in September prolongs the feeling of vacation thanks to Labor Day. Some also know that this decision was first taken in 1885 by the main American labor center, when it decreed that Labor Day will be celebrated - as a holiday - in the United States every first Monday in September, in remembrance of the first demonstration of New York workers, September 5, 1882.
But did you know that Canada played an - unintentional - role in all of this?
It was indeed in the very young Confederation, in Toronto from 1872, that demands for the nine-hour workday multiplied, which quickly obtained the political support of John A. MacDonald, who saw it as an opportunity to stand out from his Liberal opponent. A large workers' demonstration took place every year in Toronto from 1872. However, it was while attending one of these demonstrations, ten years later, that the American union leader Peter McGuire had the idea of organizing a similar gathering in New York… the following September 5th!
While most countries adopt the date of May 1st as "Labor Day" shortly after, under the impetus of France, the Americans and their neighbors to the North decided to maintain their celebration of September. Labor Day officially becomes a public holiday in Canada… in 1894!
