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00:00Labor Day, an annual celebration of workers and their achievements, originated during
00:06one of American labor history's most dismal chapters.
00:12Labor Day pays tribute to the contributions and achievements of American workers and is
00:18traditionally observed on the first Monday in September.
00:30In the late 1800s, at the height of the Industrial Revolution in the United States, the average
00:37American worked 12-hour days and 7-day weeks in order to eat out a basic living.
00:46Despite restrictions in some states, children as young as five to six toiled in meals, factories
00:53and mines across the country, earning a fraction of their adult counterparts' wages.
01:00Both Labor Day and May Day, the two worker holidays grew out of violent clashes between labor and
01:09police in the American Midwest.
01:12What is known as the Haymarket Riot or Haymarket Incident began on May 1, 1886.
01:19Thousands of workers took to Chicago streets to demand an eight-hour workday.
01:27The demonstration lasted for days.
01:29On May 4, a bomb was set off, killing seven police officers and eight civilians.
01:36A few years later, the event inspired an international gathering of socialists in Paris to declare May Day a holiday honoring workers' rights.
01:51Now known as International Workers' Day, the holiday is celebrated in many countries across
01:58the world.
01:59Eight years later, in May 1894, workers went on strike to protest 16-hour workdays and low wages
02:09at the Pullman Palace Car Company, which manufactured railroad cars in a plant near Chicago.
02:18Members of the powerful American Railway Union joined in, refusing to move Pullman cars.
02:25Rail traffic across the country was crippled.
02:29Days after the ARU joined the Pullman strike, a languishing bill to make Labor Day a national
02:38holiday was signed into law by President Grover Cleveland.
02:44Cleveland also ordered federal troops to Chicago to end the boycott.
02:49Angry strikers began to riot, and National Guardsmen fired into the mob, killing dozens of people.
02:59In the following years, many companies started to increase and even doubled the wage of their workers.
03:06They also cut the working hours from 9 to 8 hours a day.
03:12During the New Deal, the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act Limited set a minimum wage and mandated a shorter
03:24workweek, with overtime pay for longer shifts.
03:28By the 1940s, the average workweek had fallen to 5 8-hour days.
03:35It's because of the labor leaders like George Minet, William Green, Samuel Gumpers, Philip
03:43Murray, A. Philip Randolph and their sacrifices, today we see a better day at work.
03:50Today our kids go to school and do not spend time in some factories.
03:56If you want to read a story regarding the struggle during the labor riots and want to know more
04:03about the miserable conditions of the laborers during those days, I will recommend this book.
04:13You can find a read aloud on this book in our channel and also this is available in Amazon.
04:20Both the links are in the description box.
04:24Thanks for watching and supporting our channel.
04:27See you soon.