What is Labor Day?
Labor Day, or Labour Day, honours workers and the labour movement, but the name covers two different calendar traditions. In the United States and Canada it is the first Monday of September and marks the unofficial end of summer, with parades, picnics and back-to-school preparations. In much of Europe the same idea falls on 1 May as International Workers' Day, which has its own entry on this site, and some countries, such as Greece, Serbia and Slovenia, call that day Labour Day in English.
A number of countries and territories have their own date. New Zealand marks Labour Day on 25 October in 2027, and several Australian states keep it on different Mondays: 1 March in Western Australia, 8 March in Victoria and 4 October in New South Wales, South Australia and the ACT. In Trinidad and Tobago it is 19 June, the date linked to the 1937 labour unrest led by Uriah Butler, and in the Bahamas it is called Randol Fawkes Labour Day after a trade unionist. The shared name hides very different histories and customs.
Why it is observed
The North American holiday began in the 1880s. The first Labor Day parade was held in New York City on 5 September 1882, organised by the Central Labor Union, and Oregon is generally cited as the first state to make it an official holiday, in 1887. Congress made it a federal holiday on 28 June 1894, in the aftermath of the Pullman strike. In Canada, the Toronto printers' strike of 1872 sparked large labour demonstrations, and on 23 July 1894 John Thompson's government made the first Monday of September a national holiday. The September date is often explained as a deliberate choice to keep the day apart from the more radical May Day.
How the date is set
The date depends on the country. In the United States and Canada, Labor Day is the first Monday of September (6 September in 2027). New Zealand keeps it on the fourth Monday of October, Australian states on different Mondays in March and October, Jamaica on 23 May (shifted to a nearby Monday), Trinidad and Tobago on 19 June and the Bahamas on the first Friday of June. Many other countries use the same name for 1 May.
How it is observed
In the United States and Canada, Labor Day is a long weekend on which banks, public offices, schools and many shops close, and highways and airports are busy with end-of-summer trips. Many retailers hold sales. In the other countries listed above the day follows its own date, so the exact day off should be checked on the country page. In 2027 the Monday dates are 6 September in the United States and Canada and 25 October in New Zealand. Entitlements to extra pay or a substitute day depend on the country, the sector and the individual contract.
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Greece
Montenegro
Serbia
Slovenia
United States