BUTTE — Hundreds turned out for the annual Labor Day picnic in Butte — a place that many consider to be the Gibraltar of labor, and on Monday there were many different kinds of unions represented at Stodden Park.
"It’s a labor of love to do this kind of stuff, for me. I enjoy it," says Mike Boysza, a Union member and retired carpenter.
He's at the helm of a giant grill that he built over 20 years ago for a carpenter's union function.
"It’s just a ‘thank you’ for all the labor. Most everybody out here is Union people, you know, and they know what it means to be on strike and stand up in solidarity for your fellow workers," Boysza says.
Boysza worked in Southwest Montana for 40 years, but he’s not retired from the union.
"Well, the Union doesn’t leave ya," he says.
"It’s important to recognize Labor Day, especially in Butte, Montana," says Lenny Williams, the president of the Southwestern Montana Central Labor Council.
"We have a long history of the labor movement here from the mines to teachers' unions, the public sector, the private sector employees. So it really is the Gibraltar of labor right here in Butte, Montana."
Union representatives and politicians served up beans, hotdogs, and grilled street corn to the union members.
"Without the middle class, America is in dire straits," says Williams.
By the time the picnic wraps up, Boysza believes he will have grilled about 500 hotdogs.
What’s the trick to feeding a lot of people?
"A lot of food and a willing cook," says Boysza with a chuckle. "I don’t know how willing I am, but here we are!"
