Why Do Americans and Canadians Celebrate Labor Day?
How's this for a strange idea: a day off from work in honor of work itself? Actually, that is what Labor Day (celebrated in the United States and Canada on the first Monday of every September) is all about.
这样一个怪点子如何：从工作中放一天假来纪念工作本身？事实上，那就是劳动节(在美国和加拿大是每年九月的第一个星期一庆祝) 那就是劳动节的意义。
The first American Labor Day was celebrated in New York City on September 5, 1882, as thousands of workers and their families came to Union Square for a day in the park. It was not a national holiday, but had been organized by a union to honor workers and their hard efforts with a rare day of rest—halfway between July 4 and Thanksgiving. There were picnics and a parade, but there were also protests. The workers had gathered not just to rest and celebrate, but to demand fair wages, the end of child labor, and the right to organize into unions.
第一个美国劳动节是于 1882 年 9 月 5 日在纽约市庆祝，数千民劳工和他们的家人到联合广场在公园度过一天。那并不是个国定假日，但由工会安排来用一天难得的休假感念工人以及他们的辛劳－－在 7 月 4 日和感恩节之间举行。有野餐和游行，但也有抗议活动。工人们不只聚集来休憩和庆祝，也聚集来要求合理工资、童工的终结，以及组织工会的权利。
During the period known as the Industrial Revolution, many jobs were difficult, dirty, and dangerous. People worked for 12 hours, six days a week, without fringe benefits such as vacations, healthcare, and pensions. And if you were young, chances are you were doing manual labor instead of your ABCs and fractions. Children as young as 10 worked in some of the most hazardous places, like coal mines, or factories filled with boiling vats or dangerous machines.
在被称为“工业革命”的时期，许多工作都是艰辛、肮脏且危险的。人们一周工作六天，一天工作十二小时，没有任何额外福利，例如休假、健保，以及退休金。如果你年纪小，可能你那时是在做苦工而不是在上 ABC 跟算数学分数。十岁那样年纪的孩子在一些最危险的场所内工作，像是矿坑，或是充满滚烫大缸或危险机器的工厂。
Trying to win better pay, shorter hours, and safer conditions, workers had begun to form labor unions in America and Canada. But the companies they worked for often fought hard to keep unions out and to suppress strikes. At times, this led to violent battles between workers and business owners, with the owners often backed up by the police, or even the military.
试着争取更好的工资、更短的工时，以及更安全的工作环境，工人们开始在美国和加拿大内组织工会。但他们效力的公司常激烈抵抗，以将工会屏除在外以及压制罢工。时不时地，这引起工人和老板间火爆的冲突，老板们往往有警方或甚至军方撑腰。
In the following years, the idea of Labor Day caught on in America, with official celebrations reaching 30 states. But then came the violent Haymarket Square Riot of 1886, which led to the deaths of several policemen and workers in Chicago and the execution of four union leaders. After that, many labor and political groups around the world had begun to mark Haymarket Square on May 1, which became known as International Worker's Day.
接下来几年内，劳动节的理念在美国盛行，正式庆祝活动延伸到三十个州。 但接着发生了 1886 年激烈的干草市场广场暴动，那导致芝加哥数名警员和工人的死亡，以及四位工会领袖的处决。在那之后，全世界许多劳工和政治团体开始在五月一日标上干草市场广场，那天后来变成以国际劳动节著称。
In 1894, President Grover Cleverland signed the law, making Labor Day a federal holiday in America, only days after he had sent 12,000 soldiers to end a violent railroad strike that resulted in the death of several people. The original September date was kept, partly to avoid the more radical associations of May 1.
1894 年，格罗弗·克里夫兰总统签署法条，使劳动节在美国成为一个联邦法定假日，仅仅在他派出一万两千名士兵去结束一场造成数人身亡的铁路罢工后。原先九月的劳动节日期被保留着，部分是为了避免关于五月一号那较激进的联想。
Canada also created its Labor Day in 1894. But in spite of this new holiday, it would be a long time before the changes that workers wanted became a reality.
加拿大也在 1894 年设立了自己的劳动节。但尽管有这新的节日，在工人们想要的改变成真之前，仍距离一段很长的时间。
In 1938, during the Great Depression that left millions without jobs, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a law, calling for an eight-hour workday, a five-day workweek, and an end to child labor—some of the first federal protections for American workers.
1938 年，在使数百万人失业的经济大萧条期间，富兰克林·D·罗斯福总统签下一个法案，要求八小时的工作天、五天的工作周，以及童工的终结－－一些对美国劳工最早期的联邦保护法案。
As America and Canada celebrate Labor Day, most of the two countries' children enjoy a day off from school. But it is important to remember that there was a time that every day was a labor day for children in America and Canada. And unfortunately, the same fact remains true for millions of children around the world today.
在美国和加拿大庆祝劳动节时，这两国的孩子们大多都在享受一天不用上学的假日。但很重要的是要记得，曾有段时光美国和加拿大的孩子天天都是劳动日。而不幸地是，相同状况在今日全球数百万名孩童身上仍是真实的。
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