Union members from Tops store 250 on Jefferson Avenue cheer and chant "Union!" during Monday's Labor Day picnic in Lackawanna.
Heavy rains canceled their parade, but Western New York union members were determined to hold their annual Labor Day celebration anyway.
Instead of marching 1.5 miles to Cazenovia Park, many drove there to spend their day off enjoying hot dogs, potato chips and shop talk with fellow union members representing some three dozen labor unions in the WNY Area Labor Federation.
“It’s a brotherhood,” said Scott Brodnicki, conductor for Local 71 of the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation workers union. “It’s solidarity. When we stick together, we get what we want.”
Those gathered Monday expressed support for two unions in particular – the United Food and Commercial Workers members who work at the Tops market attacked by a mass shooter May 14, and the Starbucks workers planning to picket the 20 Buffalo-area Starbucks stores Tuesday to protest the firing of 10 union leaders.
The local organizing effort has turned into a nationwide push that has led to more than 200 Starbucks locations voting to join Starbucks Workers United.
Buffalo Central Labor Council President Denise Abbott placed blue Grand Marshal sashes around the shoulders of four members of the UFCW union who were at Tops store 250 on May 14 when law enforcement officials say an avowed white supremacist killed 10 Black people and wounded three others there.
The parade marshals, Lorraine Baker, Latoya Harris, Carl Sepulveda and Rose Marie Weeks, were chosen to represent all Jefferson Avenue Tops workers impacted by the hate crime at their store, Abbott said.
"They lived through a horrific tragedy and they showed bravery, strength and courage,” she said. “And that is what unions stand for.” Hundreds of people under the tents applauded, then joined in chants of “Union! Union! Union! Union!”
Sepulveda said the Tops workers were honored even though they didn’t get to lead a parade. “I am grateful they thought of us, and I wish it was something other than a tragedy that resulted in us being chosen as marshals,” he said. “But I believe strongly in unions, and we feel very supported by all the unions.”
Abbott also encouraged people to support the Starbucks Workers United who are fighting to force their company to reinstate 10 union leaders it fired this summer in what organizers are calling a “union-busting campaign.”
“Everyone under these tents supports the Starbucks workers with their organizing efforts,” Abbott said.
The National Labor Relations Board has filed federal lawsuits seeking the reinstatements, with a trial on behalf of the first seven currently underway, said one of the fired organizers, Victoria Conklin.
She said the union will have informational picketers outside every Buffalo store from 7 a.m. to noon on Tuesday to inform the public and other workers about the situation.
“I think it’s important that people see us and know what we are trying to do,” Conklin said. “We are asking for customers’ support if we need to escalate any actions, and we will be asking workers to come and join us when their shift ends.”
Conklin said she wasn’t interested in unionizing when the United Workers first approached workers at the East Robinson Road store where she worked.
“I was scared,” she said. “People warned me, ‘I bet they’ll fire you for something small if you get involved.’ But as I saw Starbucks’ union-busting efforts increasing, I decided enough was enough and I started organizing my store.”
She was fired two months ago, and her NLRB complaint will be argued in December, she said.
Members of other unions at the Labor Day picnic said they were gratified to see so many young people standing up for unions because of Starbucks Workers United, which started in Buffalo in 2019 and now includes more than 200 Starbucks locations.
“There are a lot of us veteran union reps here, but we’ll retire one day, so we need young people to step up,” said Jack Jordan, warden for SMART Local 71.
Donna Amos of Local 153, Office and Professional Employees International Union, said Monday was her 51st Labor Day as a union member and employee of Blue Cross Blue Shield of WNY, now Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield.
She said Highmark, which sponsored the Labor Day festivities, has worked closely with the union to iron out details of the merger with BCBS.
“We have good communication with them and they respect the union and we respect them,” Amos said. “So it’s a give and take to get to a fair place, and we are getting there.”
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I'm the new Higher Education reporter on The Buffalo News business enterprise team. I previously worked at The Post-Standard/Syracuse.com and Syracuse's Rosamond Gifford Zoo. I'm a Rochester native with family in Buffalo. Email me at jgramza@buffnews.com.
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Union members from Tops store 250 on Jefferson Avenue cheer and chant "Union!" during Monday's Labor Day picnic in Lackawanna.
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