WOOD RIVER – Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) Locals 338 and 218, along with the Downstate Illinois District Council, celebrated Labor Day a week early on Saturday with a parade through Wood River, followed by a family picnic at Gorden Moore Park in Alton, Ill.
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The event, attended by hundreds of LIUNA members from throughout the area, was highlighted by the unveiling and signing of the Laborers’ Bill of Rights, a document developed over the last year with input from rank-and-file LIUNA members from throughout the country.
“The Laborers’ Bill of Rights really is what we are all about. It’s about what we fight for every day, for every worker, not just Laborers. And it was developed BY workers, not lawyers, not lobbyists, but by the folks who go out and live it every day,” said Greg Stimac, Business Manager of LIUNA Local 338 in Wood River.
After the Bill of Rights was revealed and read to the crowd, people were invited to take photos of and sign the document themselves.
“What does ‘Labor’ want? Well, here’s a handy list of 11 things that are just basic rights that every worker has. Let’s start from there. These are not radical ideas; these are the ideas of rank-and-file workers who just want a safe working environment, a living wage, and to be treated with some basic human dignity,” said Sean McDonald, Business Manager for LIUNA Local 218 in Alton, Ill.
The festivities, which take place the week before Labor Day in the River Bend, is a decades-long tradition in the area, designed to celebrate the contributions and sacrifices of Labor, both past and present, for the benefit of all workers.
“It’s all about solidarity – the parade, the picnic, that Bill of Rights. When we stand together, when we work together, when we fight together, there is nothing we can’t accomplish,” said Tracy Price, President of Local 218, “To me, that’s what Labor Day is all about.”
