Monday, September 07, 2009

Happy Labor Day!!!

here are a few interesting facts about labor day. 

10,000 workers took an unpaid holiday to march in the first Labor Day parade.

Labor Day was founded when many in America worked 16-hour days in harsh work environments.

“No white after Labor Day” was the old-fashioned style rule. Today’s fashion rules now shy away from this outdated policy.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that as of May 2009, there were over 155 million people, age 16 and older, in the U.S. labor force.

Labor Day celebrations have shifted from parades and demonstrations to speeches and picnics.

Labor Day in now celebrated, not only in the United States, but also in Canada and other industrialized nations.

The American labor force today is a far cry for where it began in the 1800s. Although an eight hour work day and a minimum wage may seem standard today, this was not so when Labor Day was first celebrated.

In 1938, Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act making the minimum wage $0.25 an hour and a maximum of 44 hours in a workweek. The Act has been revised multiple times, eventually raising the minimum wage and cutting down workweeks.

In 1962, the Work Hours Act provided time and a half pay for days worked over eight hours or weeks worked over 40 hours.

It is the hope of many that america's currently unemployed workers will once again find employment in this tough economic environment.
a working america is a strong america.
teach the children to work hard and to find pride in their work and great things will come from it!

3 comments:

Sherri said...

Hey, this was fun to read...I didn't know many of these facts! Happy Labor Day!

Thimbleanna said...

Thanks for a great post Julie -- I didn't know most of these facts, so it was good to think of the day as more than a day off of work!

Susie Q said...

I still don't wear white after Labor Day...it's a southern thing ;D