Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO President, Patrick Eiding Celebrates 2012 Labor Day Parade with Words of Encouragement in the Face of Challenges – “It’s true, the challenges are great: Unemployment is still dangerously high; state and local budgets are strained so services are cut and teachers, firefighters and police are laid off; and efforts to roll back our rights to have a voice at work and to collectively bargain continue”, said Eiding who added, “The good news is that in the last few years we have awakened and fought back like we haven’t for a very long time. Here in the region, we’ve seen remarkable things happen when workers stick together. Privatization attempts for our school employees and our Wine & Spirits Shop employees have failed because we’ve stood together. Refinery workers, refusing to believe something was impossible, joined together to save their industry and their communities in the process. And just three weeks ago, over 50,000 workers came to Philadelphia to Stand for America and to advance a proactive agenda – a “Second Bill of Rights” for all workers”