很多我们称为“国际XX节”的节日，在美国完全没有。比如，咱熟悉的五一国际劳动节......
每年九月的第一个星期一是美国的劳动节（Labor Day），是联邦法定节假日，用以庆祝工人对经济和社会的贡献。很多城市都会有游行、焰火等各种庆祝活动。今年是9月5日。
对许多美国人来说劳动节的到来也意味着夏季的结束，同时也是举行派对、聚会和体育盛事的时间；很多学校在劳动节后的周二开学，所以对于学生来说，劳动节也意味着新学年的开始。
1882年，时任美国纽约中央工会秘书的机械师Matthew Maguire首次提议设立这一节日。另有一说是美国劳工联合会的Peter J. McGuire在借鉴了在加拿大多伦多一年一度的劳动节后于1882年首次提出的 。
顺便说一下，美国的工会是一个强大的组织，哪个单位的工会强势的话，员工的待遇都会比其他单位的员工待遇好很多。
Labor Day, the first Monday in September (this year, September 5th), is a legal holiday in all 50 states. The holiday began over 100 years ago as a day to honor people who worked in factories, usually for low pay and under poor conditions. During that time, many labor unions were formed to protect the US workers. Unions grew in size, to a peak in the mid-1940s.
Today in the US there are unions for actors, musicians, postal workers, police, teachers, nurses, farm workers, painters, and more.
The highest union membership rate is among workers in education, training and library occupations (35.4%).
The American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a kind of union of unions, representing 56 unions and their 12.5 million members. The largest union in the AFL-CIO is the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), with 1.4 million members.
In 2005, a group called Change to Win Federation split from the AFL-CIO - this group represents several large, strong unions, with 5.5 million workers: teamsters (truck drivers), service employees, food workers and farm workers.
Overall, the proportion of workers who are union members has decreased steadily in the last 50 years (to about 11.4% now, compared to about 18% in Germany, 28% in Canada, and 70% in Finland). The number of work stoppages, or strikes., has decreased as well.
Labor Day has an unofficial meaning in the US as well. It marks the end of summer. Outdoor swimming pools may close. Museums and parks begin new winter hours. Many public schools and universities begin the new academic year in “the week after Labor Day,” whenever that happens to be (although it is increasingly popular in some states to start in August). For students in the US, Labor Day is a kind of New Year holiday.
Labor Day Weekend is a time for families to enjoy one last piece of summer. Picnics are traditional. But beware! On Friday and Monday afternoons, the highways will be crowded with cars filled with bicycles, barbecue equipment, canoes, ice coolers, suitcases, camping tents, children, and dogs. Plan your driving carefully.
