Featured photo by Rusty Miller
Story by Rusty Miller
Saturday, Sept. 7, marked Nashville’s 11th annual Labor Day Parade as workers, unions, high school marching bands, sympathetic politicians and supportive organizations gathered early that morning to march down Broadway in a show of solidarity with the working class.
Unions from across the state were present, including Laborers International Union of North America (LiUNA), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), United Auto Workers (UAW), the currently striking Communication Workers of America (CWA) and many others.
East Nashville High School Marching Band led the parade, which provided a palpable energy as their horns and rhythm section boomed through the streets of Nashville.
Workers chanted, waved, carried signs, and threw out candy as they marched through the streets. Some carried bullhorns to amplify their calls for improved conditions for the working class.
Following the parade, there was a celebration held at Nashville’s Walk of Fame Park, including food, drinks, t-shirts, live music and a chance for like-minded folks who are facing many of the same struggles to chat.
Mina Parkison, one of the founders of Middle Tennessee’s chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), attended the celebration.
“[DSA is] an organization of organizers,” Parkison said as “Solidarity Forever” echoed in the background. “It is comprised of people who have been left behind by the major political movements in America.”
The chapter has been participating in the Labor Day Parade since 2017.
Parkison said it was important not only as a show of solidarity but also to “continue the classic tradition of socialists being involved in the labor movement.”
She also said that for her, it is personally energizing and inspiring to be at the event and to be surrounded by people fighting for the working class.
Parkison believes that DSA is a place where individuals can find solidarity and community and be a force for change within America.
“I want to be part of a better world, and to achieve that, it is going to take all of us working together,” Parkison said.
Josh Foster, the President of the CWA Local 3808, is currently involved in negotiations with AT&T after allegations of unfair labor practices led 17,000 workers to strike.
Foster said there has been no material improvement in negotiations but that the two sides were still in communication, which he views as a positive in and of itself. The CWA Local 3808 is currently picketing outside of the AT&T building in downtown Nashville seven days a week.
Rusty Miller is a contributing writer for MTSU Sidelines
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