(SOUTH BUFFALO, NEW YORK) – Under a theme of Unions Make America Great Again! – a bevy of Western New York Labor Unions and their Membership came together on Labor Day 2017 (Monday, September 4th) to march in the Buffalo AFL-CIO Central Labor Council’s 2017 Labor Day Parade.

“This (theme) ‘was chosen on purpose to take a reality and keep it from being a torn apart by that con man’ in Washington, D.C.,” Western New York AFL-CIO Area Labor Federation (WNYALF) President Richard Lipsitz told WNYLaborToday.com just before the parade started, expressing his concerns about the presidency of Donald J. Trump.

“(Labor) has ‘concerns all over place, including the cuts that are being made to programs that help Working Class People.’  ‘We also have fears he will get us into a war and that he caters to the worse elements of this country when it comes to racism,’” Lipsitz said.

However, a just-released Gallop Poll shows the popularity of Labor Unions “has gone up,” he added and Organized Labor keeps piling up organizing victories across the country, with more and more Non-Union Members making the decision to Go Union from coast to coast. (Read the Labor News Report, Headlined: Just In Time For Labor Day Weekend: Gallup Poll Shows At 61%, Labor Union Approval Is Its Best Since 2003)

With that said, Lipsitz had a message for Non-Union Workers, whom he encouraged to continue to make the decision to Unionize their workplaces, telling Your On-Line Labor Newspaper: “Watch ‘what we do, we defend the living standards of everyone’ – ‘join with us.’”

The Labor Day Parade kicked off at 12 Noon, beginning at the Irish Center on Abbott Road and continued down Abbott into Cazenovia Park, via Cazenovia Street, where a massive Labor picnic was held afterward, all sponsored by BlueCross Blue Shield of Western New York, the only Unionized Western New York Health Insurer (See WNYLaborToday.com’s Labor News Report, Headlined: Labor Day 2017: BlueCross BlueShield Of Western New York - The ‘Only’ WNY ‘Health Insurance Company With A Unionized Workforce - Salutes The Labor Movement)

Under blue skies on this warm, breezy Labor Day, hundreds and hundreds of Labor Leaders, Representatives and Members - from the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) to the United Auto Workers (UAW), United Steelworkers (USW), the Teamsters, International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 17, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 41, Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 153, the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), United University Professions (UUP), the Public Employees Federation (PEF), and so many, many more that showed off their Union Colors in the parade.

Local Labor Leader Robert McLennan served as Grand Marshal of the Buffalo AFL-CIO Labor Council Labor Day Parade and was recognized and honored for his decades-long commitment representing Western New York Union Members during a news conference held just before the parade started (Pictured Below, WNYLaborToday.com Photo: Buffalo AFL-CIO Labor Council President John Mudie on the left, McLennan in the middle and WNYALF President Richard Lipsitz on the right). 

McLennan currently serves as the Business Representative for OPEIU Local 153, which represents nearly 400 BCBSWNY Employees.  Previously, McLennan served as the President of National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 3 here in Western New York for 18 years.  He is believed to be the longest-serving president in Branch 3 history.

(For More On Grand Marshal McLennan, Read WNYLaborToday.com’s August 24th Labor News Report, Headlined: Long-Time Western New York NALC/OPEIU Union Leader Robert McLennan Officially Introduced As The Grand Marshal Of The 2017 Buffalo AFL-CIO Central Labor Council’s Labor Day Parade)

McLennan was further honored by the OPEIU, whose National President - Richard Lanigan - and Region II Vice President - Michael Goodwin - traveled from New York City to Buffalo to march alongside him in the Labor Day Parade.

For a look at the 2017 Buffalo Labor Day Parade - Via the lens of WNYLaborToday.com, Visit Our Facebook Page at: https://www.facebook.com/wnylt/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel