文章作者 100test 发表时间 2007:04:03 13:22:11
来源 100Test.Com百考试题网
Labor Day (U.S.A)
|
|
| When Peter McGuire was 17, he began an apprenticeship in a piano shop. This job was better than his others, for he was learning a trade, but he still worked long hours with low pay. At night he went to meetings and classes in economics and social issues of the day. One of the main issues of concern pertained to labor conditions. Workers were tired of long hours, low pay and uncertain jobs. They spoke of organizing themselves into a union of laborers to improve their working conditions. In the spring of 1872, Peter McGuire and 100,000 workers went on strike and marched through the streets, demanding a decrease in the long working day. This event convinced Peter that an organized labor movement was important for the future of workers rights. He spent the next year speaking to crowds of workers and unemployed people, lobbying（游说） the city government for jobs and relief money. It was not an easy road for Peter McGuire. He became known as a "disturber of the public peace." The city government ignored his demands. Peter himself could not find a job in his trade. He began to travel up and down the east coast to speak to laborers about unionizing（成立工会）. In 1881, he moved to St. Louis, Missouri, and began to organize carpenters there. He organized a convention of carpenters in Chicago, and it was there that a national union of carpenters was founded. He became General Secretary of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America. The idea of organizing workers according to their trades spread around the country. Factory workers, dock workers and toolmakers all began to demand and get their rights to an eight-hour workday, a secure job and a future in their trades. Peter McGuire and laborers in other cities planned a holiday for workers on the first Monday in September, halfway between Independence Day and Thanksgiving Day. On September 5, 1882 the first Labor Day parade was held in New York City. Twenty thousand In 1894, Congress voted it a federal holiday. Today Americans celebrate Labor Day with a little less fanfare（热闹的宣传） on the first Monday of September. Some cities have parades and community picnics. Many politicians "kick off their political campaigns by holding rallies on the holiday. Most Americans consider Labor Day the end of the summer, and the beaches and other popular resort areas are packed with people enjoying one last three-day weekend.
新版网站调整中，如需联系我们，请Email: evisa2011#gmail.com (#换@） ---- Copyright © 2000-2020.百考试题网 100Test.Com
|