Are you on the job? If so, take a break and head to this weekend’s Labor Day Parade to celebrate the workers who keep NYC safe, active and vibrant.
The 2024 Labor Day Parade and March will kick off on Fifth Avenue at 44th Street this Saturday, Sept. 7, at 10 a.m. Organized by the NYC Central Labor Council (NYC CLC), the parade will feature tens of thousands of workers from more than 200 unions and constituency groups, coming together to celebrate worker solidarity.
This year’s parade theme is “All Workers, Many Voices, One Fight,” which organizers say underscores the unity among NYC workers and union members from diverse backgrounds. The theme also includes a “shared commitment to advocating for better conditions and fair treatment,” organizers said.
Colorful floats and banners, classic cars, marching bands and more
Plumbers, pipefitters, food service, transportation and retail employees, and other workers will march along Fifth Avenue, and head uptown to the NYC CLC reviewing stand at 64 Street. Spectators will enjoy seeing colorful floats and banners, construction equipment, classic cars, motorcycles and other festivities as part of the big event.
And of course, the event is free, and will take place rain or shine.
John Murphy, International Representative of the United Association, a union of workers in the construction industry, is this year’s Grand Marshal of the parade.
“I am humbled to serve as Grand Marshal on the 142nd anniversary of the NYC Labor Day Parade and stand in the enormous shadow of legendary New York labor leaders like George Meany, Harry Van Arsdale, Mike Quill and many others who dedicated their working lives to making life better for generations of workers and their families,” Murphy said.
NYC CLC president Vincent Alvarez said Murphy has decades of leadership in the labor movement.
“John was chosen as Grand Marshal in recognition of his decades of leadership, not only to the plumbing and pipefitting industry but to the entire labor movement,” Alvarez said.
Murphy also discussed key topics workers and unions across the city and country continue to advocate for.
“Today, we in Organized Labor remain in a fight for our lives,” Murphy said. “The very virtues that many take for granted, a decent wage, medical coverage for our families and a defined benefit pension plan, are under attack every day in this country. We must continue to organize unrepresented workers in every industry because we know that an entrance into a union is a pathway to the middle class.”
The first Labor Day Parade
The first Labor Day Parade was on Sept. 5, 1882, in Lower Manhattan. William McCabe was the Grand Marshal, and he marched at first with a small group of spectators, increasing to 700 and then into the thousands, all along his route, according to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).
Meanwhile, 200 marchers from the Jewelers Union of Newark Two crossed a ferry, joined the parade and even brought along a band and played music.
According to reports, some parade-goers at the time returned to work at noon that day, while others continued the festivities that included speeches and a picnic.
More than 140 years later, the parade continues to recognize workers and Labor Day, a federal holiday.
“America’s workers are realizing the power they have when they stand together and speak with a united voice in the workplace,” Fallon Ager-Norman, international vice president and region 1 director of United Food and Commercial Workers, said. “They can and do achieve a better future for themselves and their families.”
Murphy, the Grand Marshal, echoed similar testaments.
“On behalf of more than 24,000 pipe trades members, we will proudly lead all workers with many voices in one fight and in the words of George Meany, ‘To better the standard of life for all who work for wages and seek decency, justice and dignity for all Americans,’“ he said.
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