2y ago

Should the United States move Labor Day back to May 1st like the rest of the world?

92 comments

I motion that we postpone this discussion until after the upcoming US Labor Day has passed.
- Second.
  
  No, it's the 4th this year
- sigh Someone has to say that every labor day. When are we going to be able to talk about this?

I get where this comes from (look up why USA and Canada celebrate Labor Day rather than International Worker's Day) but it's just symbolism, a frivolous issue. Pushing frivolous issues reinforces one of the negative perceptions of the American left common among both centrist Americans and international leftists. People want healthcare, vacation days, material improvements. Not a debate over when a national holiday is.
- Everytime an American on the left does this, they just set back their own cause. It's enough to make you believe a conspiracy theory of some powers on the right actively encouraging it.
  
  I have no doubt in my mind a portion of the American left is undercover idiots trying to discredit the American left.
  At least I hope so.
- You make it sound like the American left pushes a lot of symbolic issues. Which ones are you thinking of?
  Hot take: the American left loses on the material issues because it has lost on solidarity, symbolism, ideology. Don’t you know that healthcare and vacation days will “hurt the economy”? There are many poor working class people who still oppose Obamacare even though they directly benefit from it. The material gains matter a lot less if people reject the ideas behind them.
  I’m not sure if the timing of Labor Day is important, but I wouldn’t underestimate the power of symbols.

Why not have two holidays? ‘Labor day’ like we do now on the first Monday in September AND ‘Labour day’ on May 1 like the rest of the world. Workers deserve at least two holidays dedicated to them.
- We've had one, yes. What about second labor day? -Pippin
- Celebrate "us labor day" like normal and then "international labor day" in May. Easy.
  No one wants fewer days off anyway. What could be more in the spirit of celebrating workers?
- Like May 1? How about April 28?
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workers'_Memorial_Day

As a warehouse worker in the US, I say it doesn't matter since Labor Day has gradually become "Work normal hours but earn 1.5x pay for it day".
- That's 50% better than a normal day!
  
  Who are You, Who are so Wise in the Ways of Science?
- My wife is a nurse and has pretty much the same deal. Which is a mixed blessing
- What!? I’m getting time and a nuthin

That leaves a huge gap between July 4th and Thanksgiving. No thanks.
- It's really so engrained in the culture it would have to be replaced by end-of-the-summer-cookout-day.
- Would be great if we could just take off all of August like Europe does.
- True story.

No, just like soccer is not called football here. Sometimes things are different in other places.
- Unacceptable. Different thing bad!
- For the last time. That other thing is: Hand. Egg.

No, that's too close to Memorial Day. And without Labor Day being in September the gap between July 4th and Thanksgiving is too wide to not have a holiday where the majority of workers get time off from work
- It's not just about time off or celebrating. It's more about sales, special events, traveling, eating out, getting gas, airline tickets, hotel rooms, etc, etc. In other words, stimulating the economy on a regular basis.
- In Italy we have Liberation day on April 25th and labor day on 1st May and nobody ever complained. You celebrate certain days in specific dates for a reason, not because they fit nicely with other holidays
  
  A lot of American systems are very broken, including our vacation opportunities from work. We get significantly less paid time off compared to most European countries and it can be nice to have them spread out so that there is a chance you get the day off (not all companies here recognize things like labor day anyway).
- There's been proposals that 9/11 become a federal holiday. That would probably fill the gap between Labor Day and Veterans Day. Speaking of Veterans Day, it's about two weeks before Thanksgiving, yet both are federal holidays. May 1st wouldn't be too close to Memorial Day by comparison.
  
  I absolutely disagree with making 9/11 a holiday.
  It's time to get the fuck over 9/11
  
  That's a terrible idea. Who thinks the best way to honor those killed is to make it a holiday?

May 1st is too early in the year to stop wearing white.
Particularly since outdoor fuckin' starts on the First of May.
- Quality
- Is there some place in the US where people actually follow that rule?
  
  The one about wearing white after labor day, or the one about outdoor fuckin'?
- Outdoor fucking? Is that some code for abolishing workers rights?
  
  It's from a song:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaQFHG61r3Y

like the rest of the world?
I am a confused Canadian
- Ditto New Zealander
- Pipe down up there hat.

I don't rrally care when or if we have labor day as an official holiday. Seems like a pointless token gesture, considering the lack of labor rights and protections in the US.

Nope. But we should make Worker's Day a federal holiday on May 1st
- May Day is already a holiday isn't it?
  
  It's celebrated by some, but it's not a federal holiday.

Yes but keep the September day as another holiday for workers. Maybe one to celebrate living workers and one for those who died to get us worker protections, like we have Veterans Day and Memorial Day both.

No, we don’t know why this date was chosen and don’t much care. Memorial Day is the symbolic start of summer fun and Labor Day is the symbolic end. It’s a great bookmark for kids summer vacation (even if many schools start earlier now) for anyone with a cottage, or even scheduling a vacation.
Having a holiday as the “last hurrah” of summer is more important than which date it falls on. Plus we get all the conservatives on our side by saying May 1 is not ‘murican, it’s international, even commie
Edit: I never knew May 1 had an American origin, nor that the first Monday in September was chosen for convenient timing of holidays

Why does it matter when different countries have different holidays?
I prefer it on a Monday so that I get a long weekend. If it's a specific date all of the time, then if get a random day off in the middle of the week instead which I don't care about. I always prefer to extend my weekend instead.
I actually really dislike that Thanksgiving in the US is always on Thursday. It means I can't travel very far to see family because I always work the day immediately before and after Thanksgiving. So I just have a random day off in the middle of the week.

We should add May 1st as an additional federal holiday to celebrate labor. We have too many holidays dedicated to the feds celebrating themselves. Surely we can drop at least one to celebrate workers more than we currently do.

Why not two Labor Days? The whole point is the day off, after all, so the more the merrier.

No. The world shouldn't be one homogeneous blob.
- As it surely would be if the US had Labor Day on May 1st.
  
  Its hyperbole, and a more of a death by a thousand paper cuts. I can go to every large western city (and many non-western ones) in the world and find McDonalds.
  I think thats atrocious.

While we're at it, can we change the name to "No Labor Day?" 🤔
Always seemed weird to me that it's one of the few days you get a day off, but it's named like it's the only day labor is done.
- It's named for the Labor movement. maybe you're joking and I'm just dense but... yeah.
  "Beginning in the late 19th century, as the trade union and labor movements grew, diverse groups of trade unionists chose a variety of days on which to celebrate labor. In the United States, a September holiday called Labor Day was first proposed in the early 1880s."
  
  maybe you're joking and I'm just dense
  Can I call you Osmium? :P

Sure, as long as you put another holiday in its place. I like having Memorial Day to start the summer and Labor Day to end it.
- Same. What would we create to take its plsce?
  
  Unofficial End of Summer Day. So, pretty much how Labor Day is actually celebrated.
  
  Veteran's Day is in November. That's dumb. Let's move it to where Labor Day is now.

To all the confused former British colonies: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Workers%27_Day#/media/File:Observance_of_International_Workers'_Day_RGBY.svg
Edit: Anyone know what's from with the formatting and that the link doesn't read the whole URL?

Would you rather have a day off before working all summer, or a day off after working all summer.
I'd rather have it after.
- You get the day off before too. It's Memorial Day.
  
  Memorial Day is end of May, OP suggested 1 May.

No, because that would be letting the commies win. /s

Labor Day and solidarity with workers in other countries sounds like a good match.

Who cares about a stupid holiday. Start using metric.

No.
My birthday is around labor day, so that means once every six or seven years, it gets to fall on labor day.
- September 5th?

I am alright, it is pretty much the last day of the year you have shorts temperatures which if nothing else is a reminder of that fact. Maybe have two days off instead?
- it is pretty much the last day of the year you have shorts temperatures
  I wish, cuz this is getting old.