For more than a hundred and twenty years, American workers have come together in early September to celebrate Labor Day as an expression of unity and solidarity. We need such a celebration now more than ever. The East Side Freedom Library family is putting together music, entertainment, and refreshments, and we want you to join us—and each other.

St. Paul workers helped to establish this holiday. Before Labor Day became a legal holiday, local unions, the St. Paul Trades and Labor Assembly, and local assemblies of the Knights of Labor began a practice of organizing an outing to an amusement park in White Bear Lake. In 1894, striking railroad workers, based on the East Side, helped create the pressure that led President Grover Cleveland to ask Congress to institute the Labor Day holiday. And they won their strike against James J. Hill and his Great Northern Railroad.

Working people need unity and solidarity now more than ever. The percentage of workers carrying union cards is at its lowest rate in more than half a century. Yet there is new energy being generated by immigrant workers, workers of color, young workers, workers from fast food, retail, museums and education, and all those workers deemed “essential.” While there are new challenges and new opportunities, it is not clear how to mark the path ahead. As Miles Horton, the founder of the Highlander Folk Center put it, “We have to make the road by walking.”

So, come walk with us, sit with us, talk with us—and each other. The East Side Freedom Library invites you to a Labor Solidarity Picnic on Saturday, September 10, from 3-6PM on our beautiful front lawn. We will provide refreshments, music, and entertainment. We will follow CDC safety guidelines and ask you to wear masks except when eating.