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Labor Day Parade Keys In On Ties To The Civil Rights Movement

Randy Gorbman
/
WXXI News

Thousands of people took part in Rochester's annual Labor Day parade, or just watched from the sidewalks on Monday. The Rochester parade is usually one of the largest Labor Day parades in the state.

This year, organizers were keying in on a connection to an historic event half a century ago.

The theme of this year's parade was "workers' rights are human rights," and with the nation recently celebrating the 50th anniversary of the civil rights march on Washington, organizers of the Rochester parade say they wanted to tie in to those values.

Jim Bertolone is President of the Rochester and Vicinity Central Labor Council, and he says that people involved in the struggle for civil rights have always had a natural association with the labor rights movement. He says there are reasons for even closer ties today.

"As we see poverty grow in this country I think you're going to see a lot of the groups who came together, religious, civil rights, labor groups, 50 years ago, are coming together, stronger and stronger today."

Bertolone says fighting for a better minimum wage, both nationally and in New York State is another issue that labor officials are involved in, especially at a time when so many more people are working in minimum wage jobs.

Randy Gorbman is WXXI's director of news and public affairs. Randy manages the day-to-day operations of WXXI News on radio, television, and online.