Central Labor Union's Role in Creating Labor Day

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)It’s well-known that Labor Day was created by the American labor movement to celebrate the social and economic achievements of American workers. Less known is the key role of a Central Labor Union in founding the national holiday. While some records show that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a cofounder of the American Federation of Labor, was first in suggesting a day to honor those "who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold," many believe that Matthew Maguire, a machinist, not Peter McGuire, founded the holiday. Recent research seems to support the contention that Matthew Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J., proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the New York City Central Labor Union (CLUs were the precursors of today’s Labor Councils). What is clear is that the Central Labor Union adopted a Labor Day proposal and appointed a committee to plan a demonstration and picnic. - based on “The History of Labor Day”  on the US Department of Labor website