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Season 4, Episode 175

How one pen mishap would cloud the founding of Labor Day for decades

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Guest Name:

Tom Buffenbarger

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https://awf.labortools.com/ 

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Tom Buffenbarger, an independent labor voice, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to talk about the history of Labor Day and how a pen mishap created a mystery around the founder of the holiday.

Labor Day has had an interesting history around its founding. Labor Day was proposed as a way the United States could recognize the contributions of workers in this country. Labor Day allows workers to reflect on why we do our jobs, where our current workers' rights came from and the price many people paid to secure those rights for us today. However, the true founder is a bit of a mystery, as Buffenbarger explained.

Matthew McGuire, a member of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), began to circulate the idea of a parade to celebrate all the work done to support this country and finally decided to have a Labor Day Parade in 1882. Peter Maguire, a member of the Carpenters Union, was equally active in trying to promote a parade for labor. It was McGuire, the IAM member, who first implemented the parade and executed the event, and the parade became a huge success.

In 1894, President Grover Cleveland sought to make peace following a few horrible labor incidents. Both Matt McGuire and Peter Maguire were invited to the signing of Labor Day. The delegation was led by IAM’s McGuire, however, in a moment of confusion, President Cleveland gave the pen used for signing to the Carpenter, Maguire. Buffenbarger described the events that followed and how one pen mishap would consistently cause confusion until the Secretary of Labor made a final decision in 1968.

For more on the history of Labor Day, please listen to the episode above.

America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, American Alliance for Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North America, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, Survey and Ballot Systems, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

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