What Does Labor Day Mean to You?
Happy Labor Day! … to all who celebrate, at least. Or maybe that greeting should read “to all who have the opportunity to celebrate”. If you’re reading this on Labor Day (Monday, September 7, 2026), chances are you’re not among the latter group.
Unlike Christmas, New Year’s Day, and the Fourth of July, Labor Day is one of those federal holidays that, for too many people (present company excluded, of course) means nothing more than a three-day weekend. In the nearly 150 years since the first Labor Day parade, the true reason for the holiday has been largely forgotten.
Instead, Labor Day has become a point on the American calendar where certain things start or stop, at least anecdotally. Thanks to its observation on the first Monday in September, Labor Day is known as the unofficial end of summer, the last day it’s socially acceptable to wear white or seersucker, and the kick-off of fall sports. Most recently, Labor Day has begun to signal big sales on mattresses and major appliances and the beginning of Pumpkin Spice Latte season.
Back in 1882, though, the tens of thousands of workers who marched through the streets of lower Manhattan weren’t there to celebrate football games or discounted prices on refrigerators. In fact, they weren’t there to celebrate at all. Those workers took unpaid time off from their often-backbreaking, 12-hour-a-day, 7-days-a-week jobs to protest the harsh working conditions they had long been expected to endure if they wanted to earn a living wage.
According to the September 5, 1882 morning edition of the New York Tribune newspaper, the “object” of the parade planned for that afternoon was “to show the political strength which workingmen will have in the coming election” and to “‘warn politicians that they shall go no farther in pandering to the greed of monopoly and reducing the condition of the masses.’”
Workers of all sorts stepped away from their posts to join the parade: cigar makers, bricklayers, clothing cutters, dock builders, freight handlers — the list goes on and on. Many retailers even closed their shops for the day to participate. It seems the theme of the day was that there is strength in numbers, and, perhaps, “they can’t fire us all.”
It would be another 12 years before President Grover Cleveland signed Labor Day into law. Sadly, this was in direct response to a massive, violent strike at the Pullman Palace Car Company in Chicago a month earlier. More than a dozen workers were killed as they protested wage cuts.
As we go about our tasks today, whether that entails preparing a body for a service or attending a family barbecue, it’s important to remember the true meaning of Labor Day, and the origins in which the observation is rooted.
The true meaning of Labor Day is as a celebration of the social and economic achievements of American workers. On this day, we recognize the power of solidarity, and what can be accomplished when people join together for a common cause. There’s no better example of that power than what we accomplish together as The Independent Funeral Group. Individually, each member firm stands as a respected local employer and service provider within the communities you serve — yet a single voice within the entire deathcare profession. When we stand together as The Group, we transform into a formidable powerhouse — a mighty chorus of many voices that demands to be heard.
