The building trades and the rest of organized labor will on the march again on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 5, and union members across Michigan are urged to make plans to attend celebrations in their community.

Parades and parties are planned in Detroit, Ishpeming (near Marquette) and Muskegon.

The Detroit parade kicks off at 10 a.m., with the building trades lining up as usual along Trumbull, south of Michigan Ave.

The lineup will be led by the IBEW, followed by the Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, Roofers and Waterproofers, Elevator Constructors, Painters and Allied Trades, Cement Masons/Plasterers, Sheet Metal Workers, Iron Workers, Laborers, Pipe Trades, Boilermakers, Heat and Frost Insulators, Teamsters and Operating Engineers.

The parade route will proceed east along Michigan, the south on Washington Blvd. to the Legacy of Labor Monument on West Jefferson.

An American Red Cross blood drive will be held in the basement of the IBEW Local 58 union hall from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Labor Day.

The traditional Labor Day Festival will not be in Marquette this year, but in Ishpeming, southwest of Marquette at the Cliff's Shaft Museum site. The parade will start at 11 a.m. EST on Labor Day, with a picnic at noon and a program at about 1 p.m.

In Muskegon, the West Michigan United Labor Day Parade will be at Pere Marquette Park. Participants will meet at the Harbortown parking lot between 9:30-10:30 a.m. for shirts and hats. The shuttle will take participants to the staging area. The parade starts at 11 a.m. with a picnic to follow.

There will be no Labor Day Parade in Grand Rapids this year. Unionists from Grand Rapids are encouraged to join the celebration in Muskegon. If you need directions, call the UA Local 174 union hall, (616) 837-0222.

And in St. Ignace, union members are always encouraged to join the governor in the annual Mackinac Bridge walk on Labor Day. Participants can start walking anytime after the governor begins her trek, starting at about 7 a.m. No one will be permitted to walk after 11 a.m.