PITTSBURGH, PA - Every year, Pittsburgh hosts the largest Labor Day parade in the country.
Over 20,000 union members gather before the march in a series of parking lots next to the hockey stadium and assemble to be cheered on by thousands of union supporters lining the sidewalks.
As you enter the parking lot, you can feel the energy in the parking lots as marching bands from local high schools and strangers come up to one another, wishing them a "Happy Labor Day."
"This is our party. Everyone who is a worker can come down here," former state Auditor General Eugene DePasquele, now running for PA state Attorney General. A native of Pittsburgh, his grandfather was the head of the baseball ticket ushers union at the old Forbes Field.
With President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris campaigning in town, DePasquele says the energy of the labor movement in Pennsylvania changed completely when Harris became the nominee.
"Just from where we were mid-June to now, it's like we're it's like it's a whole different [context], everything changed," says Depasquale. "You have boatloads of volunteers that, to be blunt, didn't exist right before."
As we begin the party, local Pittsburgh area AFL-CIO President Darrin Kelley, a firefighter, leading the route, is met with roaring cheers from union supporters, many of whom are waving “Harris-Walz” signs.
'The energy is just amazing. I have never seen people so energized," says Kelley.
According to a new poll released by Emerson College, while Trump was leading among Pennsylvania union voters by a margin of 50% to 45% in July, the trend has now reversed dramatically, with Kamala Harris leading among union voters by a whopping margin of 56.8% to 42%.
As we enter downtown, suddenly, an SUV pulls up and out jumps Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey as he shouts, "Let's Go Get It."
As I march next to Gainey on the first few blocks of the parade, he puts his arms around my shoulder and points to the crowd's energy.
"Look at the crowd on the sidewalk. Look how much they have grown over the years," says Gainey. "That energy is back."
Gainey knows something about shaking up Western PA politics. In 2021, he defeated incumbent Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto to become the first Black Mayor of Pittsburgh. He says he can feel the political plates shifting once again with Kamala Harris running for President.
"It's electric because it's new, right? It's not the same - the first woman to be President, that's nothing to sneeze at," says Gainey. "I think that's where people are feeling so motivated is that they understand that it's about time that we have this moment, and this moment is great!"
Later that day, at a rally at the historic IBEW local five union hall just down the river from the parade, both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke. It's the first time that the President and Vice President have held a rally since Biden dropped out and decided to endorse Kamala.
Biden introduced Kamala, greeted with chants of "Thank You Joe, Thank You Joe." He thanks the crowd and tells them how much he loves Pittsburgh.
He focuses on accomplishments after talking about how his Pennsylvania family loves the labor movement.
Biden also recalls a meeting with the IBEW early in his campaign, where he pledged to support the IBEW's push for more union-friendly rules and more federal funding for infrastructure projects.
"When I met with the IBEW when I started off this last campaign first, I said, ‘There are two things that — asking of me,’" recalled Biden. "And I said, ‘Two things I'm asking of you. One, you got to open up your unions to more women.’"
Biden talks of how he hopes Kamala's leadership will also broaden the appeal of the labor movement.
"She'll be (a) historic pro union president," said Biden.
Harris takes the stage to thunderous applause and describes Pittsburgh as the "cradle of the American labor movement."
"Not only has Pittsburgh shaped the history of America's labor movement today, you are also shaping its future," says Harris as the crowd goes wild.
She cites a list of goals she's hoping to achieve and how her goals are focused on building worker power.
"The stuff they're pushing — that the measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you beat down — when we know the true measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you lift up — who you lift up," says Harris to wild applause from the crowd.
While polls show that Harris is starting to pull even, she reminds the crowd of the fight ahead.
"We know this is going to be a tight race to the very end. It's going to be a tight race to the very end. So, let's not pay too much attention to those polls. Because as unions and labor knows best, we know what it's like to be the underdog," says Harris. "And we are the underdog in this race, and we have some hard work, then, ahead of us."
She stops for a second to emphasize her point.
"But here's the beauty of us in this room: We like hard work. Hard work is good work. Hard work is joyful work," says Harris.
In Western PA, there is most definitely a new sense of joy among activists fighting in the hard fight, but nobody is counting on victory yet.
"I'm not sure how many votes you could say changed," says Eugene Pepasquale. "but there is certainly an energy to doing this that I'm not sure would have been there (otherwise)."
Donate to Help Us Cover Fight in Western PA
