By Eric Stock
BLOOMINGTON – This year’s Bloomington Labor Day parade will have a political theme and not just because of all the politicians who will be walking in it.
The Bloomington-Normal Trades and Labor Assembly parade on Sept. 5 has the theme ‘Protect Your Paycheck – Vote!’ Mike Matejka, Governmental Affairs director for the Great Plains Laborers District Council, said it can be easy to get distracted by social and other issues during the political season.
“If you stop and think about ‘vote your paycheck,’ depending on your position in life, who is elected could have a great impact on what you take home every week,” Matejka said.
The registration fee is $15 dollars for non-profit organizations, $20 for businesses, elected officials and candidates. Registration is available at www.bntrades.org, by calling (309) 828-8813 or by emailing matejka53@aol.com.
The parade will begin at 10 a.m. and will march from downtown to Miller Park.
The Bloomington parade has been held annually since 1977, but the city has marked Labor Day since 1891 when workers marched to the home of Adlai Stevenson to call for a federal Labor Day holiday which he helped enact after he became Vice President three years later.
“He’s the one that signed the papers from the Senate to President (Grover Cleveland),” Matejka said. “So there a Labor Day connection there between the enabling legislation for the federal holiday and a Bloomington resident.”
Matejka noted that for a brief time in the early 20th century – before cars – Bloomington rotated the annual parade with Peoria and Springfield as trainloads of workers were brought from city to city.
Eric Stock can be reached at eric.stock@cumulus.com.
