Kaitlyn Hughes | Features Editor
Spectators lined the streets of Pittsburgh to witness thousands of union workers march in one of the country’s largest Labor Day parades. This was the city’s 40th parade since it recommenced in 1984, according to Pittsburgh Union Progress.
American flags waved in the air, crowds cheered and Israel-Palestine protesters filled the scene.
Participants, attendees and state officials came together to celebrate what unions have done for America and the city of Pittsburgh.
The 1892 Homestead Strike is at the heart of the labor movement in Pittsburgh’s history. It was a contentious battle between Carnegie Steel and labor unions that turned violent at a steel plant owned by Andrew Carnegie.
Later in the day, President Joe Biden and Kamala Harris spoke at a campaign event in Pittsburgh. It was held at the JATC Local Union in the South Side.
State officials showed their support
Gov. Josh Shapiro made an appearance at the parade. He shook hands, posed for pictures and held babies, all while showing his support for unions.
“I love the Labor Day parade in Pittsburgh. I think it’s iconic,” Shapiro told The Duke. “I mean think about it. We have the president of the United States and the vice president coming here in a few hours because they know how important Pittsburgh is, and they know how important labor is here in this community.”
The vice president and democratic candidates have the support of both the union leadership and membership, Shapiro said.
He said they will keep working on this relationship throughout the days leading up to the election. The campaign will show the difference between Vice President Kamala Harris’s and former President Donald Trump’s stances on healthy working people, Shapiro said.
“There’s a whole lot of people walking past us here in this parade who went to work because [of] the Biden-Harris administration,” Shapiro said to reporters. “We’re going to have jobs for years to come because of the vision of the Biden-Harris administration.”
U.S. Senator Bob Casey was also present at Monday’s celebration.
According to Casey, Pittsburgh’s Labor Day parade is one of the most important in the country because a lot of stories of labor began in the city.
“For a generation now, the corporate right has tried to kneecap unions, to try to take away the right to organize,” Casey told The Duke. “We have to stop them from doing that.”
Casey said he supports the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, unlike his opponent David McCormick.
If the Senate has a Republican majority after the election, the future of workers’ rights and labor unions could be at risk, according to Casey.
“That’s why my Senate election is so critical to our [democrats] majority,” Casey told The Duke.
Both Biden and Harris said that unions are a vital part of a thriving economy.
Biden-Harris takes on Pittsburgh.
At 5:30 p.m. Monday evening Harris and Biden kicked off their campaign event in Pittsburgh.
This was after Harris spent the morning campaigning in Detroit and speaking with union leaders.
Spectators with signs that read “Labor” and “Union Strong” chanted repeatedly for Biden as he took the stage after being announced by Kenneth Cooper, IBEW international president.
This was not Biden’s first time visiting the Steel City on Labor Day.
“I have celebrated many Labor Days in Pittsburgh,” Biden said on Monday.
This was a tribute to the four times he has visited the city over the past 15 years for the holiday.
Biden said that the steel workers were the first union to endorse him in 1972 when he was running for U.S. Senate.
“Wall Street did not build America,” Biden said to the people present at the rally. “The middle class built America, and unions built the middle class.”
The reason the U.S. economy is as strong as it is today is because of unions, he said.
Biden said he and Harris are proud of having the greatest job creation record of any president
in a single term in American history. He touted the 16 million new jobs that created over the past four years, including the 800,000 manufacturing jobs.
“I spent my whole career believing in unions,” Biden said at the rally. “I’m not joking when I say that I’m honored to be considered the most pro-union president ever.”
According to Biden, Harris is the only rational choice for those who care about the dignity of work.
Harris said that Pittsburgh is a cradle of the American labor movement. She acknowledged that the city is the birthplace of The American Federation of Labor, home of headquarters of the steelworkers, home to Firefighters Local One and the historic IBEW Local Five.
Harris said the nation has benefitted from the fair pay, better benefits and safe working conditions laborers have fought for.
“I tell people you may not be a union member, but you better thank unions for that five -day work week. Thank unions for sick leave. Thank unions for paid family leave. Thank unions for your vacation time,” Harris said at the rally. “When unions are strong, America is strong.”
According to Harris, her administration’s vision will focus on the future, while her opponent Trump’s vision is focused on the past.
As of Monday there were 64 days until the election, and 14 days until ballots in Pennsylvania start dropping.
“This election is, as much as anything else, a fight for the promise of America,” Harris said on Monday.
Harris and her running mate Tim Walz will return to Pittsburgh later this week. Their visit has been labeled as an official White House event, opposed to being a campaign stop. No further information has been released.
Laborers for Palestine
Not all the laborers present at the parade were in favor of current elected officials.
About 20 protesters gathered behind a banner that read, “The National Labor Network for Ceasefire.” Waving Palestinian flags and signs, the group showed disapproval of Shapiro by booing him when he made his appearance on Grant Street.
Kit Baril is a member of a labor union at United Food and Commercial Workers. Baril helped organize a union for her workplace, but came to the parade to show support for Palestine.
“To show that the working class does support other countries,” Baril said, “and not genocide.”
Baril said that the goal of the protest was to gain supporters of a ceasefire, while showing that they stood with the working people.
“We can take all the money that’s going to wars, like what’s going on in Palestine, and actually use it for working people in Pittsburgh,” Baril said.
Aside from fighting for Palestine, Baril said workers need to fight for better rights and conditions.
Workers’ rights have been torn apart by both sides of the political spectrum, according to Baril.
“I don’t think we can count on our politicians anymore,” Baril said. “We have to count on ourselves.”
Sabrina Maines was another protester present at the parade. Maines said that laborers and workers have historically supported Palestine.
There is a need for an arms embargo on Israel, according to Maines.
“I don’t want my tax dollars paying for genocide,” she said.
Workers supporting workers
Nathan Malachowski is a registered nurse at West Penn Hospital who is in the union that is on the verge of a strike.
Malachowski is a part of a committee which was elected by the union in the hospital. This committee is negotiating a contract which advocates for more investment in the nursing staff.
“We went back to our union and asked them to authorize a strike vote for us, and they did that,” Malachowski said. “99% of nurses at our hospital and in our unit voted yes to authorize a strike.”
The negotiating committee has the authority to issue its strike notice if the contract is not seen as adequate. .
Malachowski came to the Labor Day parade to raise awareness of a rally that was scheduled at noon in Friendship Park on Wednesday.
“We wanted to be able to talk with all our other friends and brothers and sisters in the labor movement about what’s happening,” Malachowski said.
William Eakin, had almost 44 years of service working at the United Steelworkers Headquarters in Pittsburgh before retiring in February of 2020.
Eakin said that it’s important to recognize Labor Day each year to give workers a chance to discuss issues and support mutual concerns.
“Labor pretty much saved my life,” Eakin said. “I wouldn’t have most of what I have without it.”