"The first Labor Day was in 1882, in New York City. In 1887 Oregon became the first state in the nation to declare it an official public holiday, and Labor Day became a federal holiday in 1894. Monday is Labor Day, the 127th in the nation's history, and amid the barbecues, ball games, and big-box-store sales of the three-day holiday it's good to take a little time to remember what it's all about."
"Labor Day is "the day we celebrate the American labor movement and its drive to guarantee living wages and safe, decent working conditions for all workers. It's been an official federal holiday since 1894, through boom times and hard times, strikes and strike-busting, and massive shifts in technology and public/private economic strategies that have weakened the labor movement that inspired the holiday."
Labor Day commemorates the American labor movement and its campaign to secure living wages and safe, decent working conditions for all workers. The first Labor Day occurred in 1882 in New York City; Oregon declared it an official public holiday in 1887, and it became a federal holiday in 1894. The labor movement has weathered booms, busts, strikes, strike-breaking, and technological and economic shifts that have weakened its power. A historic transfer of wealth toward the superrich has threatened many labor gains, yet the movement persists. Artists are workers, and numerous visual artists have created works that document, critique, and advocate around work's centrality. Several of these works reside in Oregon museum collections and public outdoor sites.
Read at Oregon ArtsWatch * Arts & Culture News
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