Reporting by Saman Shafiq and Gabe Hauari, USA TODAY Network
With students back in school and pumpkin-flavored treats returning to menus, the end of summer, unofficially marked by Labor Day, is here.
During the three-day Labor Day weekend, many Americans will travel, shop for deals online and in-store and maybe sneak in one final visit to the beach or neighborhood pool.
However, the federal holiday is much more than just the summer’s last hurrah. Observed each year on the first Monday of September, Labor Day is a celebration of the hard-won achievements of America’s labor movement and a recognition of the contributions workers have made to the nation’s prosperity.
This year, hundreds of thousands of Americans are expected to skip the barbecue and spend their Labor Day protesting President Donald Trump and the billionaires who support him.
More than a thousand “Workers Over Billionaires” events are planned nationwide on Labor Day and the surrounding days, USA TODAY reported.
Organizers are expecting “a big show of force on Monday that we’re not going to take it sitting down, that working class people across the country are ready to fight back and to make sure that we don’t just let billionaires run roughshod over our communities,” Saqib Bhatti, executive director of Action Center on Race and the Economy, told USA TODAY.
Here’s what you need to know about the Labor Day holiday, including when it falls in 2025 and its origins.
When is Labor Day in 2025?
In 2025, Labor Day falls on Monday, Sept. 1.
Why is Labor Day celebrated?
Rooted in the labor movement of the 19th century, Labor Day originated during a dismal time for America’s workforce, which faced long hours, low wages and unsafe working conditions.
As labor unions and activists advocated and fought for better treatment for workers, at the height of the Industrial Revolution, the idea arose to establish a day dedicated to celebrating the members of trade and labor unions, according to History.com.
How did Labor Day begin?
Two workers can make a solid claim to the title of Labor Day’s official founder, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Some records indicate Peter J. McGuire, co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, was the first to suggest the idea for the holiday in 1882. However, recent research supports the contention that machinist Matthew Maguire proposed the holiday in 1882, while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York.
Regardless of who proposed the holiday, Labor Day soon became recognized by labor activists and individual states long before becoming a federal holiday.
Organized by the Central Labor Union, the Labor Day holiday was first celebrated in New York City in 1882, according to the Department of Labor. On that day, 10,000 workers took unpaid time off to march from City Hall to Union Square, according to History.com.
New York was also the first state to introduce a bill recognizing Labor Day, but Oregon was the first to pass such a law in 1887, according to the Department of Labor. By 1894, 32 states had adopted the holiday.
When did Labor Day first become federally recognized?
Labor Day became a national holiday in 1894 when President Grover Cleveland signed a law passed by Congress designating the first Monday in September a holiday for workers.
The federal recognition was hard-won, having come after a wave of unrest among workers and labor activists put the issue of workers’ rights into public view.
In May that year, employees of the Pullman Palace Car Company in Chicago went on strike to protest wage cuts and the firing of union representatives, according to History.com. A month later, the government dispatched troops to Chicago to break up a boycott of the Pullman railway cars initiated by labor activist Eugene V. Debs, unleashing a wave of fatal riots.
Congress quickly passed an act making Labor Day a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories. By June 28, Cleveland signed it into law.
Contributing: Sarah D. Wire, USA TODAY
Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter at USA TODAY. You can follow him on X @GabeHauari or email him at Gdhauari@gannett.com.
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What is Labor Day, why is it celebrated? Here’s the holiday’s history
Reporting by Saman Shafiq and Gabe Hauari, USA TODAY Network