Labor Day parade lines up unions

For two hours, union members representing organizations from across northwest Ohio filled downtown Toledo streets for the annual Labor Day parade.

As many as 20,000 people were expected to march in the parade, which stepped off at 9 a.m.

Scores of spectators lined the downtown streets to watch.

Matthew Sanders, 11, of Toledo sprinted toward pieces of candy that landed on Summit Street. He dodged other nearby children, weaving through them as if he were running football drills.

He said he was happy to be at the parade Monday morning.

“I like to hear the bands,” he said as the Whitmer High School marching band passed. “It’s interesting to see people I know. And I like the candy.”

Matthew, who said he wants to run track, said the parade was special, too, because “it’s a time that we can get together.”

While children in the street clamored for candy, the crowd was politically charged.

People marching in the parade handed out candidate literature, signs in support of — and against — candidates, and registered people to vote.

The most prevalent political signage appeared to be against Mike Bell, the city’s former mayor who is running for Lucas County commissioner as a Republican against incumbent Pete Gerken, a Democrat.

The anti-Bell signs appeared on city-owned trucks featured in the parade. They also were held by union members marching in the parade. Toledo Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson posed for a photo holding one of the signs.

Jacque Staples, 49, of Toledo, went to the parade to see her sister marching with AFSCME, one of about 120 locals represented in the parade.

She noted the highly politicized parade, but she said she was more concerned with the presidential race than local issues.

“My biggest concern is presidential,” she said. “Presidential and education. What’s the future for our children?”

She declined to say for whom she intends to vote.

Peggy Brown, 60, of Toledo appreciated seeing politicians at the parade.

“It makes me think, ‘Who should I vote for?’ ” she said. “It’s good to see them in person, not just on TV.”

After the parade, Eric Dean, president of the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental, and Reinforcing Iron Workers, spoke at a brief news conference.

“I came to Toledo today, from Washington, D.C., to be with working people and to come to a city with elected officials who respect the dignity of working people,” he said.

His visit to Toledo, he said, was to show support for and to campaign for Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine. He applauded Mrs. Clinton’s plans which, he said, would “put our members back to work.”

“She is the most prepared to lead on Day One,” he said. “Secretary Clinton is going to be a great president — not just for the working people, but will have an economy for all.”

U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo), who stood near Mr. Dean during his remarks, lauded progress in Toledo, noting recent announcements that automobile parts manufacturers, such as Detroit Manufacturing Systems, are moving into the city when other communities might see manufacturing facilities land in suburbs.

“We have to keep the momentum for jobs and new entrepreneurs building on our historical companies like Jeep,” she said. “It’s extraordinary.”

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