Today in NYC Labor History: First Labor Day Parade - Sept 5, 1882

Between 20,000 and 30,000 marchers participated in New York’s first Labor Day parade, demanding the 8-hour day. 

The parade was filled with banners: “Labor Built the Republic – Labor Shall Rule It”; “To the Workers Should Belong the Wealth”; “Down with the Competitive System”; “Down with Convict Contract Labor”; “Down with the Railroad Monopoly”; and “Children in School Not in Factories”, among others. – September 5, 1882