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Monday, September 6, 2010

Labor Day

The POA administrative building is closed today in honor of Labor Day, so is the Coronado Center and library. The fitness center is open but there are no classes today.
Labor Day is celebrated the first Monday in September. The very first Labor Day was celebrated back on September 5, 1882 in New York City. Twelve years later the holiday went national and officially became a federal holiday.
President Grover Cleveland urged Congress to pass federal legislation creating the holiday just six days after the end of the Pullman Strike. The Pullman Strike was a nationwide conflict between the railroads and workers’ unions beginning in Pullman, Illinois. The death of several workers started the strike. The strike began on May 11, 1984 and came to its peak in July of that year. The strike started with 3,000 workers at the Pullman Palace Car Company and went national with over 250,000 workers in 27 states striking for safer working conditions.
September was picked over May so the date would not interfere with traditional May Day celebrations.
Labor Day is celebrated in all 50 states. It is traditionally a day of parades and celebrations honoring workers and their families with barbeques and fireworks.
Labor Day signifies the last day of summer. Schools traditionally started the day after Labor Day. In the past Labor Day weekend marked the beginning of the NFL and college football seasons. This is also the day in which women put away their white shoes and summer garments.

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