Philadelphia workers shared a moment of levity on Monday \u2014 albeit fleeting. <\/p>\n
While the fanfare of the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO\u2019s 38th annual Labor Day parade was a reprieve from what union leaders have described as unbridled attacks, the directive was clear: <\/p>\n
Celebrate today, fight tomorrow. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis really and truly is a special Labor Day for all of us,\u201d said Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, to a crowd of thousands lined up in a South Philly parking lot, \u201cwith elected officials who want to take our rights away from us, who want to take that seat at the table away from us. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t let that happen.\u201d <\/p>\n
The spirit of worker-centric festivities in South Philly were in harsh contrast to the state of the U.S. labor movement. Since taking office for his second term, President Donald Trump<\/a> has stripped the rights of federal-<\/a>worker<\/a> unions<\/a> and stunted the National Labor Relations Board by firing one member, leaving the board without a quorum to issue rulings. <\/p>\n Just before the holiday weekend, Trump signed an executive order commanding more government agencies \u2014 such as NASA, the National Weather Service, and the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service<\/a> \u2014 to end collective-bargaining agreements with employees\u2019 unions. (Meanwhile, in Washington, on the Department of Labor building, a three-story banner with Trump\u2019s image and the slogan \u201cAmerican Workers First\u201d<\/a> has been draped since last week, with one of Theodore Roosevelt.)<\/p>\n In Pennsylvania, more than 2,600 federal government jobs have been axed<\/a> and a recent report from the Keystone Research Center<\/a> says federal policies have made things worse for the commonwealth\u2019s workers. <\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: Pa. workers have lost leverage in Trump\u2019s economy, report says<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n \u201cOur response to any attack on us is simply, \u2018Hell no,\u2019\u201d <\/b>said Brian Renfroe, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, rallying the already-rowdy crowd of teachers, tradespeople, and technicians. <\/p>\n \u201cWhether it\u2019s [this] administration, Congress, our bosses, or anyone else \u2014 when they attack us, they are met with a loud, intense, sustained, unified, \u2018Hell, no,\u2019\u201d he said. <\/p>\n Tariffs and Trump\u2019s immigration policies have also hit the nation\u2019s labor force; the Associated Press<\/a> reported that more than 1.2 million immigrants disappeared from the labor force from January through the end of July, per preliminary Census Bureau data analyzed by the Pew Research Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n Earlene Bly, an organizer for hospitality and food service workers \u2014 an industry with an historically large immigrant employee population <\/a>\u2014 said \u201cno one is safe\u201d under Trump. Bly said her union is trying to protect its foreign-born workers with specific contract language. <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t care if you are a Democrat, Republican, liberal \u2014 whatever the case may be \u2014 we are all one democracy,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd if we actually want to survive this attack on democracy, we need to come together. We need to fight together in solidarity.\u201d<\/p>\n Mayor Cherelle L. Parker<\/a>, who attended the rally Monday morning but did not address the crowd, told a cluster of reporters, \u201cWe have to remember that all of our rights were fought for, and we have to make sure we continue advocating for them.\u201d <\/p>\n Scattered throughout the parade, which wound through nearby neighborhoods, were a few, lonely protest signs: U.S. Mail not for sale, We The People reject kings and oligarchs, and Honk if Trump lies.<\/p>\n In more than thousand locales nationwide<\/a>, including King of Prussia<\/a>, Eagleville, and Ambler, \u201cWorkers Over Billionaires\u201d<\/a> demonstrations against big money-influence in politics were scheduled to take place <\/b>Monday. <\/p>\n On a Christopher Columbus Boulevard median strip just outside the Sheet Metal Workers\u2019 hall, where the parade began, Mark Tinkleman battled the wind as he held up a large, orange banner secured to PVC pipes. \u201cTrump must go now,\u201d the banner read. <\/p>\n