Politics, marches dominate Labor Day
Labor Day is a holiday to honor the American worker, but it also has a political bent. Across the country, gatherings and parades invite politicians to march and speak on the day that also marks a final hurrah for summer. Here’s a look at how the United States celebrated its Labor Day.
To the streets: Hundreds of people marched through downtown Los Angeles on Monday, calling for a $15-an-hour minimum wage nationwide and stronger union protection for workers.
The marchers held a large banner reading “America Needs Unions” as they marched to City Hall. Some of the demonstrators wore red shirts that said: “Fight for $15.” Marches over the minimum wage were held in several other cities, including St. Louis and Kansas City, Mo.
Jerry Springer: Perhaps the most interesting Labor Day political appearance was in Ohio, where tabloid TV star Jerry Springer was at a parade in Cleveland. Springer, a Democrat, has not officially announced a run for Ohio governor in 2018. Before he became a TV star, he bounced back from a prostitution scandal in the 1970s to win election to a term as Cincinnati mayor and failed in a run for governor in 1982.
Standing for Bernie: U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders told the union members he spoke to at the New Hampshire AFL-CIO in Manchester that they needed to stand together to fight for immigrants, just like they need to keep fighting for government-run health care for all Americans.
“We’re taking on the insurance companies. We’re taking on Wall Street. But ultimately we will win this struggle,” said Sanders, an independent who ran unsuccessfully for president as a Democrat.
Protect the worker: U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren released a report on Labor Day saying Trump is failing to keep his campaign promises to create more jobs and increase wages. The report from the Massachusetts Democrat said the president is putting people in the Labor Department who are anti-union and want to revoke regulations they say are antibusiness.
Telethon: A staple of Labor Days for more than 40 years, the telethon for the Muscular Dystrophy Association hosted for almost all its run by Jerry Lewis has been gone for three years. And Lewis died Aug. 20. But ArcLight’s 10 theaters in California and Illinois showed two of Lewis’ classic films, The Nutty Professor and The King of Comedy. It donated all of the proceeds to the Muscular Dystrophy Association.