Labor Day trivia

Miners with their children at a Labor Day celebration in Silverton, Colo., circa 1940. CREDIT: Russell Lee

The Department of Labor calls Labor Day a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity and wellbeing of our country. The first Labor Day was celebrated Tuesday, Sept. 5, 1882, in New York City. The day of the holiday was changed to the first Monday in September in 1884. Congress passed an act officially June 28, 1894, making the first Monday in September a legal holiday.

• For many decades, Labor Day was seen as a day for workers to voice their complaints and discuss better working conditions and pay.

• In 2009, 155.1 million people were in the nation’s labor force.

• There are 15.7 million labor union members in the United States, which is about 12 percent of wage and salary workers. Alaska, Hawaii and New York have some of the highest rates. North Carolina has one of the lowest.

• About 3.4 million workers have a minimum 90-minute commute to work each day.

• Roughly 7.7 million people have two jobs. Of those people, 288,000 work two full-time jobs.

• There are about 5.7 million people who report they work from home.

• About 28 percent of workers 16 or older work more than 40 hours a week. Meanwhile, 8 percent of workers work more than 60 hours a week.