No Parade, But More Meaning

A letter appears on the opposite page from Fitz Reid, an activist in District Council 37, that laments the AFL-CIO New York City Central Labor Council's decision to cancel this year's Labor Day Parade. We have great respect for Mr. Reid, but we believe his concerns are misplaced on this issue.

He correctly noted that the parade "can be New York's most important platform for organizing and education, and to demonstrate labor strength to politicians."

The CLC, however, had noted dwindling participation by its members, and smaller crowds watching it. It could be argued that the parade had the air taken out of it years ago, when it was moved from Labor Day to the first Saturday afterwards. That may have been a more convenient time for union members and labor leaders to march up Fifth Ave., but it was also a resounding signal that Labor Day itself had been reduced to being merely the final day of a long weekend.

We found it significant that a labor stalwart like Bill Henning, a vice president of Communications Workers of America Local 1180, did not decry the parade's cancellation. Instead, he argued that the event needed to be built around a theme and then used as "a display of working-class muscle," rather than simply an obligatory march.

The CLC belatedly warmed to that idea. It is holding a rally to generate support for long-term health care for ill 9/11 workers on Sept. 8 - the Saturday which in previous years would have been the day for the parade. The rally presents a cause and a pressing issue to the public, rather than just a showing of labor's colors. It also reminds us that in a modern world where unionized employees have done well enough that many are reluctant to interrupt a three-day weekend to march in midtown, concerns about worker safety are sometimes neglected in the interest of commerce and symbolism. That was the case in the decisions by the city and Federal Government less than a week after 9/11 to declare the air around the World Trade Center safe to breathe and reopen much of the surrounding area for business.

There is a more resonant point to be made on that score than any labor processional could produce.