Wausau Pilot & Review

Wausau will celebrate workers Monday with an annual Labor Day Parade and festivities. The parade begins at 4 p.m. with a route that travels south on Third Avenue and ending at the Labor Temple.

The Marathon County Labor Council issued this news release on Sunday in advance of the celebration.

On Labor Day workers across the nation acknowledge those workers who make our nation operate, because we know it’s not the CEOs who produce the goods and services needed, but labor. As DALU 24111 member, Nancy Stencil, states, “being in a union means building a better future for ourselves and our families, generations down the line. It means access to a good, sustainable job in the industries of the future. It means earning wages that help us afford a home and keep up with rising rents, and it means knowing that retirement is secure. OUR FUTURE—and the future of our families—IS BETTER IN A UNION, in Wausau and across the U.S.”

After decades of anti-union propaganda, misinformation and corporate attacks, workers are on the rise. People all over the country are realizing unions are the single best tool we have to stand up to the historic inequity and corporate greed we are up against. Every day, more workers are seeing past the lies and the well-funded anti-union campaigns from corporate America and deciding to come together: Unions won 76% of the 1,573 National Labor Relations Board elections held in 2022, the highest rate ever. And unions are more popular with the public now than at any time since the 1960s.

Marathon County Central Labor Council has organized the annual parade in Wausau for decades.

In this year’s parade Doug Diny was selected as Grand Marshal. Labor officials say he was chosen because he is viewed as somebody who will reach across political divides in Wausau, at a time when we need to move forward as a community for worker-rights.

John Pellegrino, who served in the U.S. Navy and later in the Honor Guard, was chosen as Citizen of the Year.

“He supports veterans and faithfully ensures acknowledgement for those military members when they come home,” the Labor Council stated.

The Women’s Community was selected for the essential and meaningful services for survivors of sexual assault and domestic abuse for our community.