Union Workers March in Labor Day Parade
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Hundreds of members from dozens of unions representing workers in our area, took part in the Labor Day Parade Monday, celebrating the day that celebrates them.
The parade started on East Ave. and Alexander St. and made its way through downtown Rochester.
Union leaders say this year they were calling for what President Franklin Roosevelt wanted in 1944, a second Bill of Rights. That would give Americans the right to quality education, medical care and retirement security. Most of all, it called for the right to work and a living wage.
"We are right now in a recession, a depression of consumer demand and consumer spending," explained Jim Bertolone, President of the Rochester & Vicinity Labor Council, AFL-CIO. "Workers need a raise, and they need jobs and that's the only thing that will get the economy going."
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that in 2011 nearly 15 million Americans were members of a union. That number is down from nearly 18 million a decade ago.