Over 350 People Attend 38th Annual Labor Day Picnic in Ithaca: List of Awards

On an unseasonably cold and blustery day, over 350 people attended the Tompkins County Workers Centers‘ 38th Annual Labor Day Picnic @ Ithaca’s Stewart Park on Monday, September 2nd. The Picnic organizers focused on the theme, Women & Gender Non-Conforming Workers & Labor. Incredible music was provided by the 86ers; Go Gone; and Open Swim. Every year, a highlight is the awards through which the Tompkins County Workers’ Center recognize the best and worst among us.

JOE HILL AWARD: This year’s Joe Hill Award was given to the United Auto Workers Local 2300 for their commitment to union solidarity, and for their courageous and successful decision to strike at Cornell to get a fair contract. (Photo to immediate right. Two on left from UAW Region 9 in Buffalo, and two to right from UAW Local 2300)

CHICO MENDES AWARD: This year’s Chico Mendes Award was given to GreenStar Workers United, for their successful union election getting 80% of vote in favor of unionizing, for their commitment to union solidarity, and for their fight for a fair contract. (Photo to immediate left)

MOTHER JONES AWARD: This year’s Mother Jones Award was given to Cornell Graduate Students United, for their successful union election garnering 95% of the vote, and for their commitment to union solidarity, and for their ongoing fight for a fair contract. (Photo to right)

A. PHILIP RANDOLPH AWARD: This year’s A. Philip Randolph Award was given to the Ithaca College Contingent Faculty Union, for their commitment to union solidarity, and for bargaining a new three-year contract with Ithaca College. (Photo to left)

KAREN LEWIS AWARD: This year’s Karen Lewis Award was given to the Ithaca Teachers Association in recognition for their ongoing struggle against austerity and in support of sufficient staffing, services, and funds to meet the needs of all students and adults. Like Karen Lewis and the Chicago Teachers Union CORE caucus, Ithaca Teachers Association activists embody the belief that the fight for the youth is a fight for ourselves. (Photo to right)

ITHACA JUST CAUSE COALITION: This year’s Dolores Huerta Award to the Ithaca Just Cause Coalition, for their ongoing fight to extend Just Cause workplace protections to all workers in Ithaca. (Photo to left)

FRIEND OF LABOR AWARD: This year’s Friend of Labor Award goes to Tal Frieden, for their essential work with Raise Up New York to ensure that every worker makes a living wage, as well as support of the Tompkins County Workers Center’s bid to increase the minimum wage in Tompkins County. (Photo to right)

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award goes to Lesley Finch, for decades of unwavering commitment to her fellow workers in UAW 2300. Finch, for many years, was employed as a mechanic, a female working in a heavily male dominated field at Cornell. She has since been the UAW 2300’s Trustee Benefits Representative.