劳动节是“老百姓”的节日。它庆祝人的尊严得到尊重，欢呼靠自我奋斗取得胜利。

　　第一次庆祝美国劳动节是在 1882年9月的第一个星期一。那年的9月5日，在纽约举行了第一次劳动节游行。这件事很快赢得了有组织的的劳工运动的支持。1894年，美国国会把9月的第一个星期一正式定为节日。

　　1882年9月份的《纽约世界》杂志报道说，在联邦广场聚会后，2万名工人唱着歌欢呼着，举着旗帜沿百老汇大街行进。旗帜上写着：

　　八小时工作；

　　八小时休息；

　　八小时娱乐！

　　劳动者创造全部财富！

　　在第一次庆祝劳动节时就提出这样的要求似乎是幻想，以致《纽约时报》的编辑警告说，八小时工作制会造成工业破产，致使工人懒散而导致犯罪。然而，自那以来劳工们走过了漫长的路，并没有产生编辑们所预测的可怕后果。

The American Labor Day

　　Labor Day is a “grass roots” holiday. It hails the dignity of man and salutes his individual efforts.

　　Labor Day was first celebrated on the first Monday in September， 1882.On September 5th of that year the first Labor Day parade was held in New York City. The occasion quickly gained support within the organized labor movement，and it was designated an official holiday by Congress in 1895 for the first Monday in September.

　　In September of 1882， the New York World reported that after a mass meeting in Union Square 20，000 cheering and singing workers marched up Broadway with banners that read：

　　ELGHT HOURS FOR WORK；

　　ELGHT HOURS FOR REST；

　　ELGHT HOURS FOR RECREATION！

　　LABOR CREATES ALL WEALTH！

　　The demands raised at that first Labor Day celebration seemed visionary and caused the editor of the New York Times to warn that an eight-hour day would bankrupt industry and that the resulting idleness would increase crime. But labor has marched a long way since then and without the terrible results predicted.