Labor Day Pop Quiz: What Are We Really Celebrating This Weekend?

Most people only think of Labor Day as a nice excuse for long weekend, the beginning of fall, or the start of football season. But the last holiday of summer is more than a day off work: It's also one of the most controversial of American holidays, a celebration of the laborers -- and more specifically, the unionized laborers -- who made America strong. In honor of America's workers, we put together this little quiz.

If you've ever wondered what Labor Day means, how it came into being, or why it's still important, take a peek.


Bruce Watson is a senior features writer for DailyFinance. You can reach him by e-mail at bruce.watson@teamaol.com, or follow him on Twitter at @bruce1971.

• <p> A. The 1894 Pullman Factory Strike<br /> B. The 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire<br /> C. The U.S. entered World War I<br /> D. The movie <em>Norma Rae </em>came out</p>
• <p> When the Pullman Palace Car Company cut wages in 1894, 4,000 of its employees went on strike. Claiming that the strike interfered with mail service, President Grover Cleveland sent in 12,000 Army soldiers -- a move that broke the strike, but also resulted in the deaths of 13 strikers. Fearing a backlash from unions across the country, Congress quickly moved to declare Labor Day an official holiday. Cleveland signed the Labor Day bill into law six days after the end of the Pullman strike.</p>
• <p> A. A fat cat<br /> B. A scabby rat<br /> C. A low-down dog<br /> D. A slippery snake</p>
• <p> For the last 22 years, unions across the country have employed the services of &quot;<a href="http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/96535" target="_blank">Scabby the Rat</a>,&quot; a huge, inflatable rodent, to publicize their problems with management. Big Sky Balloons and Searchlights, an Illinois-based company, sells as many as 200 of the inflatable rats every year. &quot;Scabbies&quot; come in a bunch of sizes, ranging from 6 feet to 25 feet tall.</p>
• <p> A. Nobody likes Mondays<br /> B. Most children aren't in school on that day, and organizers didn't want to interfere with the school year<br /> C. It is conveniently timed between the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving<br /> D. In 1894, it was a handy time to begin the fall election season</p>
• <p> In 1894, worker holidays were few and far between. <a href="http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/question459.htm" target="_blank">Labor Day</a> was positioned to break up the long haul between July and November.</p>
• <p> A. 1890s<br /> B. 1930s<br /> C. 1950s<br /> D. 1990s</p>
• <p> After the Great Depression and World War II, union membership surged. By the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/22/business/22union.html" target="_blank">mid-1950s</a>, when organized labor hit its highest point, 35% of workers were unionized.</p>
• <p> A. Growing<br /> B. Shrinking</p>
• <p> Union membership hit 11.8% in <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/money/workplace/story/2012-01-27/union-membership-growing/52817346/1" target="_blank">2011</a>, its lowest level in more than <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/22/business/22union.html" target="_blank">70 years</a>.</p>
• <p> A. Yes<br /> B. No<br /> C. Does Canada count?</p>
• <p> <a href="http://gocanada.about.com/od/canadatravelplanner/qt/labour_day.htm" target="_blank">Canada</a> also celebrates Labor Day on the first Monday in September, although they refer to it as &quot;Labour Day.&quot; In most other countries, May Day, or May 1, is the annual day for commemorating workers.</p>
• <p> A. The 1894 Pullman Factory Strike<br /> B. The 1959 Steel Strike<br /> C. The 1970 Postal Strike<br /> D. The 1994 Major League Baseball Strike</p>
• <p> Over the course of the five-month <a href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,865009,00.html">1959</a> steel strike, approximately 500,000 steel workers left work, closing down almost every steel mill in the U.S.</p>
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