2013 Theme: You Work Hard. You've Earned It. Labor Day 2013.
QUAD CITIES -- The Quad City Labor Day Parade Alliance will hold their 30th Annual Labor Day Parade in East Moline on Monday, September 2nd. This year's Grand Marshall is UFCW 431 President Jerry Messer. On Labor Day, more than sixty area unions, community non-profits, and businesses will march west on 15th Avenue from 13th Street to 3rd Street in East Moline, IL. Line up begins at 8:00 a.m. at the John Deere Harvester Works Parking Lot: 1100 13th Avenue, East Moline, IL. The parade begins at 11:00 a.m. and ends at 1:00 p.m. After the parade, join us at the "Salute to Labor Chicken Fry" at Illiniwek Park, Rt 84 Hampton, IL. Serving from 11:30-3:00pm. The picnic tickets are $10 for adults and $6.00 for children under 12 and can be purchased at the event.
Labor Day is a celebration of the incredible contributions of America's working people. Through sweat, sacrifice, and innovation, workers built this country and make it run every day. We take pride in doing the best job possible. But today most of America's workers are working longer hours, taking on multiple jobs, and producing more goods and services. Yet wages have not kept up. While wages for working families have stagnated, the super-wealthy, including CEOs and corporate executives, have done pretty well. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the top 1% has grabbed nearly 60% of the income gains in the past 30 years. Meanwhile, the bottom 90% has only received 8.6% of all gains in income.
The productivity of working families has powered our region's growth, but wage growth has not kept pace with the productivity of working families. We believe in extending a ladder to the middle class for all who play by the rules and work hard. Union and nonunion; low wage, blue collar and white collar; documented and undocumented?workers are united in the belief that this should be the country of opportunity. This Labor Day, we stand united in our belief that everyone deserves a voice on the job, a living wage, and a workplace safe from harassment and abuse.
We recognize the millions of workers who do not get this holiday off and those who are striking and walking off the job across the country because they hope to raise their families on a livable wage. We ask our leaders to invest in economic growth from the middle class out, and to respect workers' freedom to come together in unions to organize and build a better bargain for everyone.
Every day, workers labor and sacrifice to achieve the American Dream. We celebrate this holiday to tell workers everywhere: You've earned it!
