Public Employee Press

Union marches strong at Labor Day parade

By ALFREDO ALVARADO

Gray skies hovered over Fifth Avenue on Saturday morning Sept. 12, but down on the ground thousands of workers decked out in their union colors were anxiously waiting to parade down the city’s most famous thoroughfare with their union brothers and sisters for the 2015 Labor Day Parade.

Among the many activists were people like Local 372 member Yazmin Dennis, who was attending her first Labor Day Parade.

“I wanted to be here to support my union,” said Dennis, who came from the Bronx with her coworker Yvonne Vazquez. Dennis works at IS 23 in the Bronx as a Family Paraprofessional and is responsible for visiting parents when their children don’t show up for classes. Leading the DC 37 contingent was Executive Director Henry Garrido.

“This is a day when the union movement celebrates our victories and rallies our troops for the battles ahead,” Garrido said.

One of the victories workers celebrated nationally is the executive order signed by President Barack Obama on Labor Day requiring federal contractors to provide up to seven days of paid sick leave benefits per year. Beginning with new contracts in 2017, the shift in policy will affect approximately 300,000 workers.

In addition, Obama called on Congress to pass the Healthy Families Act, which would require businesses with 15 or more employees to offer up to seven paid sick days each year. And in June, the president announced that the Dept. of Labor would propose extending overtime pay protections to almost 5 million workers who earn less than $50,400 a year.

Lee Saunders, president of DC 37’s parent union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, praised Obama’s decision on overtime. “Lifting the overtime threshold to protect more workers is an important step toward improving American incomes, creating new jobs and growing the middle class,” he said.

Local 372 President Shaun D. Francois I led a float with his members that featured a DJ chanting, “We take care of your kids.” They shared the avenue with other DC 37 locals.

Federal workers from the U.S. Post Office who are fighting a fierce battle against privatization also marched and chanted, “The U.S. mail is not for sale.” Other union members carried signs that said, “Dump Trump.” When the activists reached Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s Trump Plaza they stopped, faced the building and shouted, “You’re fired!”

Participating for the first time with DC 37 was the Royal Knights marching band, made up of middle and high school students from Brooklyn.

The grand marshal for this year’s parade was George Gresham, president of the Service Employees International Union Local 1199. The festivities began Saturday morning with the traditional labor mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.