When I Say ‘Union’ …

Story By MIKE LEE, Photos By MIKE LEE, ACACIA RODRIIGUEZ & THEA SETTERBO

The weather was humid and the forecast threatened rain, but for the tens of thousands marching in the Central Labor Council Labor Day Parade, none of that mattered.

Under the banner of “Power in Unity,” DC 37 members and their families joined fellow workers representing more than 200 unions in the annual march up Fifth Avenue on Saturday, Sept. 6.

New York City’s unionized workforce showed up in a powerful display of union pride. This year’s event was especially powerful as the labor movement pushes back against the Trump administration’s anti-worker policies and legislation.

Many union members attended the parade to express their solidarity and reconnect with colleagues.

“As public workers in New York’s five boroughs, we’re spread across hundreds of worksites and agencies,” said George Sarah Olken, President of Brooklyn Public Library Guild Local 1482. “Days like today are a chance to reconnect, to feel less atomized, and to remind each other that we are one labor movement connecting all communities. The attacks on our public institutions, such as our libraries, are attempts to divide us. We show up to say, ‘No f***ing way!’”

Many elected leaders stopped by the union’s assembly area on 44th Street to chat with members, including Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark and Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, New York State Assemblymember and Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani (pictured on cover), NYS Attorney General Letitia James (top right), and Council Members Alexa Avilés (CD 38), Tiffany Cabán (CD 22), Sandy Nurse (CD 37), and Democratic nominee for District 8, Elsie Encarnacion, all pictured below.