Monday, September 06, 2010

Labor Day Parade Draws Union Workers, Politicians

Posted: 1:29 p.m. Sept. 6, 2010

Labor Day parade draws union workers, politicians

BY KATHLEEN GRAY
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Thousands of union members gathered along Woodward for the annual Labor Day parade this morning to march for more jobs, stable wages and fair treatment from employers.

“We have to organize the unorganized,” said Ken Good, 57, a UAW retiree from Brownstown Township. “There’s safety in numbers. Because if we’re speaking alone, we’re going to have a race to the bottom.”

It wouldn’t be Labor Day in Detroit, though, without politicians, lots of Democratic politicians. And they were all there, marching behind the AFL-CIO banner right behind the musicians of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, who led the parade while playing favorite tunes for the crowd who gathered to watch the festivities.

“This is the dynamic duo for Michigan,” said Virg Bernero, Lansing’s mayor and the Democratic candidate for governor.

“We’re the Main Street mayors for Michigan,” he added, referring to his running mate, Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence. “We’re going to stand up for Main Street values because we need jobs here in Michigan.”

The Rev. Jesse Jackson also attended the rally at the end of the parade, leading the crowd in a series of chants: “Save the workers. Save the families. Put Americans back to work. NOW.” And “Keep hope alive.”
http://www.freep.com/article/20100906/NEWS01/100906022/1001/NEWS/Labor-Day-parade-draws-union-workers-politicians#ixzz0yo0bvCdb


Posted: Sept. 6, 2010

Breaking with Dems, carpenters union planning to back Snyder

BY KATHLEEN GRAY and DAVID ASHENFELTER
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS

Michigan's largest construction trade union is expected to break ranks with the Democratic Party today by endorsing Republican Rick Snyder for governor.

The announcement by the 18,000-member Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights is expected to come during an 11:30 a.m. news conference at union headquarters in Detroit, after the annual Labor Day parade.

"We feel in this race, Rick Snyder is the best candidate to fix Michigan, and that's what's in the best interest of our membership," Secretary-
Treasurer Mike Jackson said in a news release.

Jackson said some people might be surprised to see a labor union endorse a Republican, but the union has always put policy before party.

"This isn't about labor versus management, city versus suburbs, eastern versus western Michigan," Jackson said. "It's about pulling Michigan together, and we feel ... Rick Snyder is the guy who can do that."

The endorsement will come on a day that was supposed to belong to Democrats and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Virg Bernero. The Lansing mayor has been endorsed by many major unions -- the UAW, AFL-CIO and AFSCME -- and those unions bankrolled his primary election campaign last month with $2 million worth of TV advertising.
The carpenters union supported Republican Dick Posthumus' gubernatorial bid in 2002 and has given money to Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson and the Oakland County Republican Party.

One of the only major unions left to endorse in the gubernatorial race is the Teamsters, which backed state House Speaker Andy Dillon, D-Redford Township, in the primary.

Read more: Breaking with Dems, carpenters union planning to back Snyder | freep.com | Detroit Free Press http://www.freep.com/article/20100906/NEWS15/9060330/1001/NEWS/Breaking-with-Dems-carpenters-union-planning-to-back-Snyder#ixzz0ynpyi000

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