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Local 'Union Town' Takes Labor Day Seriously

WILMINGTON (CBSLA.com)  — Thousands of union members and their families turned out for Wilmington's 37th annual Labor Day parade.

Representatives from dozens of unions marched to support workers' rights.

"It's a union town. Everybody here belongs to the union," Union worker Roman Guzman said.

Marchers and spectators called it an important show of solidarity for unions. Union workers were behind the effort to create Labor Day which was approved by Congress in 1894.

"We are blue collar all the way," former union worker Mike Puliselich said. "We're the backbone of the country. It's our day. Everything stops."

After the parade, thousands celebrated with nothing more red, white and blue than a holiday picnic with hot dogs and hamburgers.

But Labor Day is also a day to labor for some.  At Sweet Dixie Kitchen in Long Beach, a waitress was asked if working the holiday bothered her, and the opposite was true.

"Ya know you'd think it would, right? But, I love my job," Devon lee said.

Owner Nick Sanchez is happy to be open for the holiday.

"We've seen a good upswing in business here on most holidays," Nick Sanchez said. "Nine to fivers have it off, we stay open to make some money."

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