As if to confirm the impression that Pennsylvania is at the center of the political universe, Pittsburgh will get a Labor Day visit from President Joe Biden late this afternoon — days after a speech in Philadelphia and an appearance by 2020 rival Donald Trump in Wilkes-Barre. But he won’t be alone in making a pilgrimage to the city on Monday.
Pittsburgh's Labor Day parade — said to be among the largest in the United States and definitely one of the most storied — begins at 10 a.m., with union workers and their supporters marching from around PPG Arena to the United Steelworkers headquarters Downtown.
It is the first in-person parade since the coronavirus forced organizers to cancel the event in 2021 and 2020. And while Labor Day marks the end of summer, it also ushers in the fall campaign season. With crucial mid-term elections in the offing, the event this year is set to attract Democratic office-seekers that include U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman as well as gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro and his running mate Austin Davis.
They'll join union members from all walks of life, with special attention paid to service employees union members who began a strike against nursing homes in the region late last week.
Biden, meanwhile, will visit Pittsburgh late this afternoon, after another Labor Day-themed stop in Milwaukee. After landing at Pittsburgh International Airport at 4 p.m., he’ll head to the union hall of Steelworkers Local 2227. That union chapter represents workers at the U.S. Steel Irvin Plant, which rolls and finishes steel slabs produced at the nearby Edgar Thomson works.
Biden has visited the area multiple times during a presidency that is still less than two years old, and he's been a frequent Labor Day visitor as well. Even the West Mifflin site is one Biden visited before while he was campaigning for Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Biden will “deliver remarks celebrating Labor Day and the dignity of American workers,” the White House said in a statement Sunday night. He will be accompanied by U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh.
Biden’s visit comes days after the White House announced that southwestern Pennsylvania would receive nearly $63 million from a competitive grant that would help smaller businesses invest in robotics and other artificial-intelligence technology. Local leaders hope it will give an economic boost to communities of color as well as rural areas left behind by the decline of coal — exactly the kind of areas where Donald Trump has made the most inroads.
At an event late last week, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald heralded the award, telling the President that it was “about hope for the future, for the next generation who are out there wondering what’s going to happen. … This doesn’t leave people behind.”
“We’re looking forward to seeing you on Monday,” Fitzgerald added. “You’re always here with us, and we’re looking forward to it. We’re guaranteeing good weather.”
It remains to be seen whether that election-season promise can be kept: Forecasts say rain is likely throughout the day.
