A Labor Day Tribute: Giving Gratitude to Those Who Fought for Worker’s Rights

Posted on September 1, 2014 Updated on September 1, 2014

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, there remains speculation over which McGuire (or is it Maguire?) is to credit for the start of Labor Day. New evidence suggests it was Matthew Maguire, though many still believe it was Peter McGuire.

While Matthew Maguire was the secretary of the New York Labor Union in 1882 and led a strike in 1870 with the intended goal of making union leaders aware of the harsh long work hours, most historians say Labor Day was the idea of Peter McGuire. He was the general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, and is said to have first suggested a day to honor those “who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold.” Read the rest of this entry »