SEIU local members chant
whilemarching along Michigan Avenue
during the annual Labor Day parade
in the Corktown neighborhood of
Detroit on Monday, September 3,
2018. (Photo: HB Meeks/Tell Us
Detroit)
Thousands
of
workers
hit
Michigan
Ave. for
the
Detroit
Labor
Day
Parade
By
Wendell
Bryant
Tell Us
Detroit
DETROIT
(Tell Us
Det) -
Michigan
gubernatorial
hopeful
Gretchen
Whitmer
is
urging
organized
labor to
stay
with a
posative
view and
stay
focused
as they
march
toward
the
November
mid-terms.
Whitmer
walked
along
side of
supporters
from
AFSCME,
SEIU UAW
and
thousands
of local
union
workers
and
their
families
as they
marched
along
Michigan
Ave.
Labor
Day
Monday
in
Detroit
during
the
annual
Labor
Day
parade.
Michigan
gubernatorial
hopeful
Whitmer
said,
“I’m
feeling
encouraged,”
as she
worked
her way
into the
crowd as
the
event
prepared
to
kickoff.
“I’m
grateful
for the
men and
women of
labor in
this
state.
We built
the
middle
class.
We’re
going to
make
this a
state
that you
can get
ahead in
again.”
(Photo
by HB
Meeks/Tell
Us
Detroit)
Also
in
attendance
at this
September
event
were the
regulars,
Congresswoman
Debbie
Dingell,
Senator
Debbie
Stabenow
along
with
uncontested
Michigan
District
14
Congressonal
nominee
Rashida
Tlaib.
What was
an
obveous
absence
was the
big
national
names of
the pass
like
President
Bill
Clinton
or VP
Joe
Biden.
Senator
Stabenow
said.
“Whether
it’s
pensions
or
wages,
this is
about
what
created
the
middle
class”.
“If we
want a
middle
class we
need to
respect
people’s
ability
to work
hard and
succeed.”
Other
notables
included
Detroit
Mayor
Mike
Duggan,
who also
marched
in the
2018
Detroit
Labor
Day
Parade.
(Photo
by HB
Meeks/Tell
Us
Detroit)
President
Trump
launched
a Labor
Day
attack
at
AFL-CIO
chief
Richard
Trumka,
who a
day
earlier
said the
commander-in-chief
has hurt
US
workers
more
than
he’s
helped
them.
“Richard
Trumka,
the head
of the
AFL-CIO,
represented
his
union
poorly
on
television
this
weekend,”
Trump
tweeted
minutes
after
wishing
the
nation a
“Happy
Labor
Day!”
“Some of
the
things
he said
were so
against
the
working
men and
women of
our
country,
and the
success
of the
U.S.
itself,
that it
is easy
to see
why
unions
are
doing so
poorly.
A Dem!”
he
added.
"Our
country
is doing
better
than
ever
before
with
unemployment
setting
record
lows."
He
added,
"The
Worker
in
America
is doing
better
than
ever
before.
Celebrate
Labor
Day!"
The
unemployment
rate of
3.9
percent
is not
at the
best
point
ever —
it is
near the
lowest
in 18
years.
An
estimated
20,000
to
30,000
people
marched
the
route
down
Michigan
Avenue
from
14th
Street
to
Lafayette
Boulevard
according
to
AFL-CIO
Metro
Detroit
President
Rick
Blocker;
Detroit
Police
didn't
have an
estimate
for
attendance
earlier
in the
day.
Union
membership,
which
had been
declining
over the
decades,
went up
1.2
percent
in the
state in
2017
over a
year
earlier
to
658,000
people,
according
to U.S.
Department
of Labor
statistics.
Across
the
country,
the
number
remained
steady
at 10.7
percent.
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