Building trades workers are encouraged to join with their fellow union members and celebrate Labor Day on Monday, Sept. 4.

Labor Day celebrations will be held this year in Detroit, Grand Rapids, Marquette, Muskegon and St. Ignace.

Here are some of the things you might need to know about each event:

Detroit - There will be an earlier start to the 2006 Detroit Labor Day Parade, 9:15 a.m. It will be staged as usual for the building trades on Trumbull Ave. south of Michigan. The earlier starting time will allow the building trades to move ahead of the other line of march, which moves south along Woodward Avenue to Jefferson Ave.

The theme of the parade is "In solidarity, unions march, unions vote!"

The building trades parade lineup will start with Heat and Frost Insulators, followed by the IBEW, Cement Masons and Plasterers, Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, Elevator Constructors, Sheet Metal Workers, Laborers, Roofers, Painters, Pipe Trades, Iron Workers, Boilermakers and Operating Engineers.

A blood drive will be held on Labor Day in the basement of IBEW Local 58 on Abbott Street, east of Trumbull from 7-1 p.m. Walk-ins are welcome. The American Red Cross reports that they usually collect 30-40 pints of blood in this collection effort - which would be welcome this year with blood supplies running low.

The Grand Rapids United Labor Day Parade starts at 10 a.m. on Labor Day. The staging area will be in the Grand Valley parking lots (Mt. Vernon lot and Watson lot) on the south side of Fulton and Mt. Vernon Ave., trucks on Summer Street. Participants should arrive at John Ball Park at 8 a.m.

A shuttle will provide transportation from John Ball to the staging area where there will be coffee, juice, and donuts. T-shirts will be passed out at this time. Members wishing to drive their company vehicles, cars or motorcycles in the parade should report directly to the staging area. After the parade there will be a hospitality tent with refreshments and entertainment.

Marquette - The Labor Day Festival will actually be 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.

The Muskegon United Labor Day Parade will be at Pere Marquette Park on Labor Day, Sept. 4. The parade begins at 11a.m. Participants should meet at the Harbor Towne area at 9 a.m. for their T-shirts and hats. Following the parade will be a Solidarity Tent with food and refreshments.

The annual Mackinac Bridge Walk kicks off in St. Ignace. Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who has jogged the past two years, will lead the way over the five-mile long bridge at about 7 a.m. No one will be permitted to start after 11 a.m.