Tom Buffenbarger on ‘Wimpy’ Winpisinger and the Origins of Labor Day

from America’s Work Force Union Podcast · host BMA Media Group

A machinist named Matthew Maguire proposed Labor Day in 1882. When Grover Cleveland signed it into law in 1894, he gave the ceremonial pen to a carpenter with a similar name and told Maguire's wife he was sorry. The machinist never got proper credit. The debate starts every Labor Day again. On today's episode of America's Work Force Union Podcast — the final episode of the Labor 132 series, one week before Labor Day — IAM retired International President Tom Buffenbarger discusses the life and career of William ‘Wimpy’ Winpisinger, the IAM general president from 1977 to 1989 who wheeled a wheelchair into his first AFL-CIO executive board meeting to tell George Meany it was time to go, led a walkout of the 1980 Democratic National Convention, put IAM-sponsored race cars on national television with drivers including Roger Mears and Josele Garza to showcase union craftsmen and made trade unionism a religion. Buffenbarger also settles — for another year at least — the debate over who really created Labor Day. Visit goiam.org for more.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Aug 31, 2026

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IAM retired International President Tom Buffenbarger discusses William ‘Wimpy’ Winpisinger’s rise from boomer mechanic in postwar Cleveland to IAM general president, his confrontational presence on the AFL-CIO executive board, his walkout of the 1980 Democratic National Convention and his decade-long auto racing program featuring drivers including Roger Mears and Josele Garza that put union craftsmen on national television — and revisits the Labor Day founding story: Matthew Maguire, a machinist, proposed the holiday in 1882, but President Cleveland gave the 1894 signing pen to a carpenter with a similar name and sent Maguire’s wife a letter of apology.

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Tom Buffenbarger on ‘Wimpy’ Winpisinger and the Origins of Labor Day

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