Labour Day 2025: Date, origin and all you need to know about celebrations

Labour Day in the US is observed on the first Monday of September. Marking a day of national importance, it is widely celebrated with schools, government offices and many businesses remaining closed

In the United States, Labour Day is being observed on September 1, 2025, marking the first Monday of the month. Celebrated as the unofficial end of summer, the holiday gives Americans a three-day weekend to spend with family and friends, while also honouring the contributions of workers, fair wages, and improved working conditions.

 

May Day and Labor Day both honor workers' hardships, but they do it in different ways. The United States honors its labor on the first Monday of September, even though May Day is celebrated worldwide on May 1. 

History of US Labour Day

According to the US Department of Labor, Peter McGuire and Matthew Maguire are credited with coming up with the concept for Labor Day. The holiday is first thought to have been proposed in 1882 by the former. 

 

 

But according to new research, the concept was put forth by machinist Matthew Maguire, who was the secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York that year. 

 

In 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed a measure enacted by Congress declaring the first Monday in September to be a vacation for workers, making Labor Day a national holiday. But even before that, individual states and labor activists recognized the day. On February 21, 1887, Oregon became the first state to enact legislation acknowledging Labor Day, while New York was the first to introduce a measure. 

 

Four additional states like Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York passed legislation establishing a Labor Day holiday in 1887. Connecticut, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania had done the same by the end of the decade. 23 additional states had embraced the holiday by 1894. Notably, in line with the Central Labor Union's goals, New York City observed the inaugural Labor Day vacation in 1882. 

How May Day is different from US Labour Day?

The international labor movement is where May Day, often called International Workers' Day, traces its origins. It honors the Haymarket Affair of 1886, in which a nonviolent demonstration in Chicago calling for an eight-hour workday was violently put down. Later, in 1889, a global federation of European trade unions and socialists decided to designate May 1 as Labor Day and decided to hold a day of protests the next year.

 

Former US President Grover Cleveland and others decided on a different day to honor workers and their contributions to the growth of the United States because May Day is linked to socialism, political upheaval, and labor unrest. Despite having similar goals, Labor Day and International Labor Day (May Day) represent different historical and political paths.  

What’s open and what’s closed on US Labor Day 2025?

    • Postal services- Mail will not be picked up or delivered by the USPS, an independent federal organization, as it will be closed. Additionally, UPS will not be operating, and some sites might close. 

 

UPS Express Critical will continue to operate as usual. The majority of FedEx services will be out of service. FedEx Custom Critical will be operating, and the FedEx office that provides printing services will have modified hours.

 

    • Banks: While ATMs and internet banking services will continue to operate during the federal banking holiday, the majority of banks will be closed.

 

    • Stock Market: On Monday, the Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) will both be closed.

 

    • Government offices: All administrative offices and state and local courts will be closed. The DMV and public libraries, as well as other federal agencies and government facilities, will continue to be closed. 

      

    • Retail and grocers: Costco warehouses will not be open for customers who want to go supermarket shopping. The majority of Whole Foods sites will be open, though shoppers should verify the hours for their local stores. Aldi locations will have limited hours based on their location.

 

    • Medical Service: Every medical service in the United States will be operational and available around-the-clock.