Forging Solidarity Editor’s Note: Pictured above, Gerry "Ski" Skrzeczkowski, an original member of the Western New York Labor Coalition for Jobs sponsors, discusses his memories of Solidarity Day 1981 during a recently-held event to examine the roots of the biggest Labor protest in U.S. History - the September 1981 Solidarity Day rally in Washington D.C.  (Photo Provided By Derek Seidman of the Forging Solidarity Project)

(BUFFALO, NEW YORK) – A group of 40 people recently attended a special event held at United Steelworkers (USW) Local 593 that examined the Buffalo roots of the biggest Labor protest in U.S. History, the September 1981 Solidarity Day rally in Washington D.C.

Buffalo and the Origins of the 1981 Solidarity Day March was sponsored by Forging Solidarity: The Buffalo Labor History Project, a new collaborative, community-based project focused on Buffalo’s Labor and Working-Class History.

As many as a half-million Union Members and Allies attended the September 19th, 1981 Solidarity Day march, aimed at confronting then President Ronald Reagan's attacks on Labor and Working People - including his August 1981 firing of striking Air Traffic Controllers.

Through personal accounts and the careful presentation of original historical research, speakers revealed how - beginning in the Fall of 1980, Buffalo-area Labor Leaders formed the Western New York Labor Coalition for Jobs (WNYLCJ), which proactively built a national network of Labor Unions and Allies to organize a major jobs march on Washington, the march that became Solidarity Day, sponsored by the National AFL-CIO, on September 19th, 1981.

The program emphasized the central role Buffalo played in organizing the biggest-ever Labor protest in U.S. History.

“Buffalo’s Labor Movement played an indispensable role in organizing the National Labor protest that became Solidarity Day in 1981,” said Derek Seidman, the lead on the Forging Solidarity Project. “The initiative and energy that sparked the movement for Solidarity Day, and the nuts-and-bolts organizing work - it came out of Buffalo. This is a story that shows how the Buffalo Labor Movement has shaped national events of real significance.”

Lou Jean Fleron, former head of the Buffalo Cornell Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) Extension and Forging Solidarity Co-Founder, recounted the militant roots of the Union Locals in the 1970s, and the layer of Labor Leaders, who forged the WNYLCJ and worked with the Buffalo AFL-CIO Central Labor Council to create the momentum for Solidarity Day.

“These local Union Leaders were on the front lines of the war against inequality and corporate greed,” Fleron said. “Following in the footsteps of early CIO Organizers who built the foundation of ‘Worker Power’ that created Buffalo’s Middle-Class life, these Rank-and-File Union Leaders were determined to defend their communities against capital flight, job loss and the rollback of pay and benefits.”

USW District 4 Director Dave Wasiura introduced the program and Gerry "Ski" Skrzeczkowski, an original member of the WNYLCJ Sponsoring Committee, offered recollections from Solidarity Day 1981.

Musicians Sally Schaefer and Tyler Bagwell opened the event with several Labor songs.

Buffalo and the Origins of the 1981 Solidarity Day March was the inaugural event for Forging Solidarity.

Attendees at the program including Labor Leaders, a Deputy Mayor, Union Staffers and Members, Professors and students and artists and Archivists who reflected the broad and growing appeal of Forging Solidarity.

Founding Labor sponsors of Forging Solidarity are the USW District 4, United Auto Workers (UAW) Region 9 and the Western New York Council of the Communication Workers of America (WNYCWA)

Forging Solidarity is hosted by the Partnership for the Public Good (PPG).

Forging Solidarity Editor’s Note: Forging Solidarity will soon be unveiling a new website. It’s planning regular public events on Buffalo Labor History and a series of history and art exhibits and a Season of Solidarity Theater run. The program also featured an 11-minute documentary produced by the National AFL-CIO about Solidarity Day (which you can view here). To receive regular updates from Forging Solidarity, e-mail forgingsolidarity@ppgbuffalo.org.