Live music, information tables, food and speeches was the tune of the day in Romo Park in downtown Watsonville at the annual Labor Day gathering Monday.
Put on by the Monterey Bay Central Labor Council, the event showcased the essence of Labor Day—to pay tribute to the efforts and achievements of American workers.
Created by the labor movement in the late 19th century, Labor Day became a federal holiday in 1894.
“Labor Day is important to remember all the people that have come before us and that made it for the way it is today and also, that we are not where we need to be and the fight still needs to be continued for the working class,” said James Sandoval, organizer and general chairperson for Local 0023, which represents Santa Cruz METRO bus operators. “Today is about all of us coming together to help realize this. I love people coming together, the music, the gathering of all of us to realize solidarity; it’s just a good feeling.”
Those hosting info tables at the event included California Mortgage Relief, Campaign for Organic Regenerative Agriculture, East Salinas Building Healthy Communities, and the Democratic Socialists of America.
Gena Silverman of Labor Studies at UC Santa Cruz spoke to the crowd about collective bargaining and of helping young people interested in forming unions.
“Isn’t it amazing that, in nearly 100 years, 80% of young people want to join unions?” she said. “And 72% of people in the United States have a favorable opinion of unions for the first time since before World War II. We are in an amazing time for the labor movement.”
Musician Jimmy Kelly and his band treated the crowd to a list of labor tunes including his own version of “Where Have All the Flowers Gone,” at times replacing the word “flowers” with “jobs.”
