The date was June 28, 1894.

That’s the day the U.S. Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a Federal holiday - Labor Day.

It was a long road for laborers to get that special day. It took years of strikes by workers - sometimes violent clashes, as they pleaded for better working conditions.

Before it was a federal holiday, Labor Day was recognized by labor activists and individual states. The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 1882 in New York City in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union.

Oregon was the first to pass a law recognizing Labor Day, on Feb. 21, 1887. During that year, four more states - Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York - passed laws creating a Labor Day holiday. By the end of the decade Connecticut, Nebraska and Pennsylvania did the same. By 1894, 23 more states had adopted the holiday, and on June 28, 1894, Congress finally passed an act making the first Monday in September a legal holiday and President Grover Cleveland signed it into law.

Today, most people don’t realize the significance of Labor Day. And until I did my research for this column, I didn’t know as much either.

Different accounts say either of two New Jersey labor activists, Peter Maguire or Matthew Maguire, should have been credited with the creation of Labor Day.

In 1882, Peter McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, suggested setting aside a holiday for the laboring classes. But others believe that machinist Matthew Maguire, not Peter McGuire, founded the holiday.

Matthew Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, New Jersey, may have proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York.

Either way, the work of labor activists in the late 19th Century helped pave the way for the eight-hour work day, better and safer working conditions, and many of the labor laws on the books today. American labor has raised the nation’s standard of living, and celebrating those who made such a difference is why Labor Day is such an important holiday.

I call it a holiday because that’s how many Americans see it now - just another day off. We don’t honor the day like Americans did in 1882, when  more than 10,000 people marched in the first Labor Day parade in New York City.

My first job after graduating from high school was as a freight checker at a waterfront distribution center in New Jersey. It was a union job in the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA-Local 928). It was hard work for everyone handling freight “on the docks,” and we really looked forward to any holiday, whether it was Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Labor Day.

Even back then, I can’t ever remember seeing a Labor Day Parade, although some places probably still had them. Today, Labor Day is associated with end-of summer barbecues, last-chance getaways, holiday sales in the stores, and for the kids, the final day before school starts.     

I’m sure I won’t see anyone marching this year to celebrate the holiday. But now that I’ve done a little research, I’ll try to be a little more appreciative of the people who struggled to make life better for workers. And I’ll be sure to appreciate those who don’t have off this Monday.