Labor Day: Peter McGuire

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CEFR Level B1-B2

Peter McGuire is one of the two men who may be responsible for initiating the first Labor Day in the United States.

Peter McGuire was of Irish heritage. He was a union leader and a founder of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners. He was also part of what would become the American Federation of Labor. 

These groups, reportedly led by Peter J. McGuire, were influential in strikes and other work that eventually led to the establishment of an 8-hour work day. It is thought that without his work, a national workers-rights organization would not have existed and survived in the U.S.

Before all this, at age 11, McGuire left school to work to help support his family. At some point in his teenage years, he attended night classes at Cooper Union. Cooper Union was known to be where workers’ rights and “radical” ideas were discussed. 

In 1867, McGuire was apprenticed at a piano shop. He became part of the group that fought against wages being cut at the shop. His efforts for better working conditions eventually caused him to have to leave that job.

He kept working for better pay and conditions for laborers. Throughout his life, McGuire was part of labor unions, strikes, and other work to improve working conditions. He is remembered for initiating many of the protests and other events.

Some say that 15 years after beginning work at the piano shop, Peter McGuire suggested a Labor Day parade and celebration to showcase the strength and camaraderie of laborers. 

Conflict was part of McGuire’s life and is now part of his legacy: he may be the originator of Labor Day, but that is not a universally-accepted fact.