CLC Labor Day Rally and March a Sea of Local 100 Green

SEPTEMBER 9, 2026—Local 100 was out in force for the Central Labor Council’s Rally and March on Tuesday, a sea of our green union t-shirts filling one corner of the rally and forming a significant contingent in the march up Broadway from Liberty Street.

“Make no mistake about it, we are the biggest, baddest union in New York City,” Chiarello said through a bullhorn at the end of the march to the members gathered in Foley Square.

“We’ve been to rally after rally, and I’m letting everybody know right here and right now that the fight for our contract continues,” said Chiarello. “You coming out says everything to me and our union.”

Members and officers from BLET, SMART, ATU, Association of Commuter Rail Employees and BRS rallied and marched alongside us, and a feeling of determination was with us.

The location of the rally before the march was blocks from Ground Zero—fitting for an event that this year focused on labor’s role in the aftermath of 9/11 to mark the 25th anniversary of the worst terror attacks to ever take place on American soil.

MOW Executive Board member Mario Galvet, who has done years of work to advocate for Local 100 members’ 9/11 compensation, was one of the speakers at the rally.

“The story of 9/11 as it relates to transit workers is a completely untold story. The towers, when they collapsed, collapsed onto two train stations,” said Galvet, noting that 4,000 transit workers came immediately to the site.

“When we got here, there was only us, NYPD and FDNY,” Galvet said, remembering the cranes, dumpsters, grapplers and telephone technicians Local 100 brought downtown, allowing the months-long process of hauling out the debris to begin and providing telephone infrastructure to the area as well as reestablishing emergency radio systems for the city.

“That was all within the first 24 to 48 hours,” Galvet said. “People should understand, the folks out there in the suits, that when the you-know-what hits the fan, whether it’s a manmade or natural disaster, it’s us folks that go out there and clean it up, not them, and they should show some appreciation whenever we’re asking for a little bit of money.”

The tone of the rally and march was a mix of pride—labor is the backbone of New York—and a somber recognition of the events of 9/11, which despite occurring 25 years ago is still fresh in the minds of many who experienced it.

During the march, Local 100 paused at the Oculus, the transportation hub that opened as part of the World Trade Center in 2016.

Local 100 also has a more recent loss that we are still reeling from: the death of Conductor Moet McCullum, who was killed on the job September 3 while she was performing flagging duties in the Bronx.

A moment of silence was held for her at Foley Square as dusk fell.

“We will mourn our sister, and we will pay respect to her and her family,” said Chiarello, pledging that her funeral would be full of Local 100 members.

“It’s a solemn event for the people that passed,” Chiarello said. “But guess what—we’re going to respect our dead and fight like hell for the living.”