Monday September 6th is Labor Day
The first Labor Day in the United States was celebrated on September 5, 1882 in New York City. In the aftermath of the deaths of a number of workers at the hands of the U.S. military and U.S. Marshals during the 1894 Pullman Strike, President Grover Cleveland put reconciliation with Labor as a top political priority. Fearing further conflict, legislation making Labor Day a national holiday was rushed through Congress unanimously and signed into law a mere six days after the end of the strike. Cleveland was also concerned that aligning an American labor holiday with existing international May Day celebrations would stir up negative emotions linked to the Haymarket Affair. All 50 U.S. states have made Labor Day a state holiday. Pictured at right is a photo of a Labor Day parade on Main St. in Buffalo NY in 1900.
The PLEA MOU is the defining document for the rights of PLEA members. Refer to it when you need to know pay scales, rights, and more.
The MOU is available for download as a PDF file. Please use the link to the right to obtain this electronic copy.