Chicago has always been a labor town, which is why we’re diving into the local connection to Labor Day ahead of the holiday weekend and the state of labor in the city today.
Strikers during the Pullman Strike in 1894. (Kean Collection / Getty)
Labor Then
President Grover Cleveland did not want states celebrating May Day, a spring holiday socialists abroad created to commemorate the fatal labor rally in Chicago’s Haymarket Square in 1886.
Labor Day was made a federal holiday to appease the labor movement amid the Pullman Strike in the late 19th century, according to National Geographic.
But it was largely seen as a performative gesture since Cleveland sent federal troops to the city to end the boycott. Strikers rioted, and the National Guard fired into the crowd and killed dozens of people.
Protesters outside Starbucks Reserve Roastery on Michigan Avenue July 14. (Trent Sprague / Tribune / Getty)
Labor Today
From health staffers to Chicago actors and writers, workers have spent the summer organizing. Here are the latest labor updates in the city.
- 🏥 Nursing home workers from 11 facilities could go on a 10-day strike as early as Tuesday to protest short staffing and low wages.
- ☕ Starbucks workers at the Magnificent Mile roastery rejected union membership.
- 📦 Some South Side UPS workers want more from the tentative contract reached late last month.
