To most Americans, Labor Day is the official end of summer, a day off from work and school and one last chance to party, picnic and barbecue with friends. But Labor Day is much more than a day off. it represents a victory for laborers that was sparked by a deadly railroad strike over a century ago.
Pullman, Illinois was a true company town, with all workers required to rent row houses and purchase food and other supplies from their employer, Pullman Sleeping Car Company. Founded by George Pullman in 1867, Pullman was the largest producer of sleeping cars, designed to make night time and long distance train trips more comfortable.
But in 1893 the Pullman company was caught in the nationwide economic depression and orders for sleeping cars declined. Pullman was forced to lay off hundreds of employees. Those who remained endured wage cuts, even while rents and supplies in Pullman remained consistent.
Pullman workers quickly walked off their jobs, demanding lower rents and higher pay. Pullman workers were joined by railroad workers nationwide, who boycotted trains carrying Pullman sleeping cars. The strike took an ugly turn, and several railroad cars were burned.
President Grover Cleveland, faced with nervous railroad executives, interrupted mail trains and his own election, declared the strike a federal crime and deployed 12,000 troops to bring about a peaceful resolution. The situation only worsened, with two strikers killed when U.S. Deputy marshalls fired on protesters.
While the movement for a national Labor Day had been building for many years, protests against President Cleveland's harsh methods made the appeasement of the nation's union workers a top political priority. Seizing the chance at conciliation and attempting to bolster his reelection the following year, Cleveland signed legislation declaring Labor Day an official holiday.
More than a century after the bitter Pullman railroad strike and the birth of Labor Day, Americans still gather - especially during election years - to be with friends, hear speeches and wave American flags as they give thanks to the American labor movement.