Chicago city and labor leaders called on supporters to change their Labor Day plans this year, and join them for a rally at a pivotal location in the city's history of labor relations.
The Chicago Federation of Labor says its march and rally set for Monday, September 1 at 11:00am will focus on the Haymarket Memorial, 175 N. Desplaines St, which honors victims of an explosion during a rally to support striking workers back in 1886.
CFL president Robert Reiter announced the march Tuesday morning by calling back to another pivotal moment in Chicago's labor history: the strike by mostly Black workers at the Pullman rail car facility on what is now Chicago's Far South side in 1894: "During the Pullman Strike, (President Grover) Cleveland called out the National Guard to occupy Chicago and put down that strike. Sound familiar?"
Reiter said the labor community's opposition to the Trump Administration is the latest chapter in the ongoing struggle for workers' rights.
"We look at what's happening now and we realize we have been here before, Reiter said. "Chicago has been here before. Back then ... is right now."
The federation and its members are set to rally around the Haymarket Memorial on Labor Day, and take part in a separate march the following Saturday, September 6 from 103rd and Cottage Grove to Arcade Park and Pullman Park.
