Video: True Meaning Of Labor Day

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COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI)- For some people, Labor Day is a day of rest or the last chance for many people to go on trips before the summer ends.

But few know the meaning of the holiday.

“It just another day to goof around and find what I can get in to,” Donald Duncan said.

“To me, like I said, being able to come home and have a day off from all my responsibilities and be able to spend time with my family,” ICC soccer player Hope Burton said.

The meaning of Labor Day varies from person to person, especially if they are working.

“Labor Day to me aint nothing but another day. I work. I worked this morning, so it aint nothing but another day to me,” Thomas Masingill said.

The U.S. Department of Labor says this holiday is “A creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers.”

It has been a national holiday for over 120 years.

“Labor Day is an important holiday for us to reflect back on the struggles that workers have made over the years to give us a lot of the things that we take for granted,” Herman Junkin Jr. said.

“I know that they’re a lot of people who have worked hard to make sure that we have a holiday like this,” Smithville school teacher Tina Morgan said.
Labor Day is a holiday that began as a way to honor union workers and commemorate their alliance, and much of the improved working conditions that many of us enjoy, can be chalked up to the union battles.

President of Communications Workers of America Local 3504 Herman Junkin Jr. says organized labor unions play an important role in Labor Day.

“Just to kind of bring attention to the fact about the conditions in the work place, and over the years in the late 1800’s, it grew, got recognized and got attention and brought about change,” Junkin said.
Labor day became a national holiday in 1894.

Another fun fact, The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on September 5, 1882, in New York City.