The first ever celebration of Unpaid Labor Day in United States history is coming on September 3, 2018 (Labor Day). It will be held in St. Louis, MO on the east steps of the Old Courthouse from noon to 2 p.m. 

Labor Day in the United States is a public holiday celebrated on the first Monday in September. It honors the American labor movement and the contributions that workers have made to the strength, prosperity, laws and well-being of the country. It became an official holiday in 1894. Unpaid Labor Day is a day chosen by the Unpaid Labor Project. It will honor the collective contribution of the first 12 generations of African Americans that was vital to the birth, growth and survival of the United States. That contribution began in 1607. That's 169 years before the United States became a country in 1776, and 287 years before Labor Day became an official holiday. 

Without the Unpaid Labor of 12.5 million African Americans over the course of 250 years the United States would not have been born. It would not have grown as it has. It would not have survived to become the most successful nation in modern history. That's what 66 of America's most prominent PhD historians are saying. No Unpaid Labor no United States of America as we know it!

It is fitting and proper that the role of labor be recognized. It is fitting and proper that the role of Unpaid Labor be recognized in St. Louis, Mo. at this site. The Old Courthouse is where slaves were bought and sold. It is where the Dred Scott case was decided. It faces the Gateway Arch, the symbol of the country's western expansion that ignited the Civil War over slavery. On September 3, 2018 it will symbolize a new beginning in our history and a better tomorrow for our people, our nation and ourselves.