Celebrated the first Monday in September, Labor Day was first proposed September 5, 1882 to give tribute to working people. There is some disagreement over who first proposed the celebration. Two men are widely mentioned as the founders of Labor Day, Matthew McGuire, the secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York and Peter McGuire, a carpenter and cofounder of the American Federation of Labor. The holiday was established by municipal and state laws in the late 1800s. Legislation was passed to make it a federal holiday on the first Monday in September on June 28, 1894. It is celebrated with parades, speeches and picnics and marks the beginning of school and the end of the summer season.
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