Since 1894, the first Monday of each September is used to celebrate American workers with Labor Day. It marks the progress that workers have made in the struggle for better wages, working hours, welfare, benefits, and living conditions. As Americans, we must always remember and appreciate the sacrifices made by workers in the name of building a land of opportunities.

For this reason, we recognize the American workers and their dream for a prosperous America. Labor Day is important as it celebrates the labor and struggles of American workers throughout history. As patriots, we join hands with the American workers to honor those that started the labor movement, which started Labor Day.

Though Labor Day became a federal holiday in 1894, the struggle for better working conditions started long before then. At the height of the Industrial Revolution, workers in America worked long hours, with some working 12 hours daily all week long. Back then, in some factories, child-labor was being practiced on children as young as 5 to 6-years old who were made to toil daily and at only half a fraction of adult wages. Working conditions were deplorable, and workers were treated poorly by their employers. This poor treatment of workers by employers led to the formation of labor unions.

With the formation of labor unions, workers began to organize strikes, rallies, and mass protests to demand for better pay, working hours, working conditions, and welfare from factory owners. In the struggle to be treated better by employers, some protests turned violent, and lives were lost. For example, the infamous Haymarket Riot of 1886 in which several workers and police officers of the Chicago Police Department lost their lives. We also remember the New York rally of September 5th, 1882, which saw 10,000 American workers march from City Hall to Union Square, in what became the first Labor Day parade in the United States.

Labor Day became a federal holiday on June 28th, 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed an act of Congress, making Labor Day a legal holiday. This was as a result of the events of May 11th and June 26th, 1894, respectively, when workers of the Pullman Palace Car Company went on strike, and Eugene V. Debs led the American Railroad Union into a boycott of all Pullman railway cars in protest of the sack of workers representatives by Pullman. The boycott affected economic activities, and troops were sent in, which led to the death of many workers.

In honor and recognition of the struggles of the American workers, the Biden/Harris Campaign Organization joins millions of grateful Americans to wish our heroic workers a happy Labor Day celebration, as we continue the struggle to take back America.

God bless the American workers.