By EILEEN STILWELL • Courier-Post Staff • September 4, 2010

South Jersey labor leaders are having a tough time celebrating Labor Day this year when nearly 10 percent of the state's work force is unemployed.

"It's a very somber Labor Day, in many ways like the Great Depression," said Sen. Donald Norcross, D-Camden, who also is president of AFL-CIO Central Labor Council for South Jersey.

"Companies are holding onto every dollar because of the uncertainty of the economy. One of my biggest concerns is what happens when unemployment checks stop coming."

Labor Day was created as a national holiday in 1894 by President Grover Cleveland to appease workers after he dispatched federal troops to bust a railroad union.

Four years later Samuel Gompers, an immigrant cigar maker who is described in every textbook as the father of the American labor movement, called it a day for workers to "lay down their tools" and reflect on the power of their solidarity.

Today, for most people Labor Day means goodbye summer, hello school, football and the official kickoff of the political season.

Still, 400 local labor leaders gathered Friday to present $25,000 in scholarships to area students with a union affiliation and to honor the memory of unionist Peter McGuire at Arlington Cemetery in Pennsauken.

"A rising tide lifts all boats," said Norcross, quoting President John F. Kennedy.

"We represent our members first and foremost, but we live in a community much larger than that. It would be an insult to suggest this day belongs to one group over another. It is for all working men and women and for those who would be working if they could find jobs," said Norcross.

New Jersey ranks fifth in the nation for union representation. About 19 percent of the work force are unionized, down from 24 percent in 1990, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Unionized public sector workers -- including teachers, police officers, firefighters, letter carriers, air traffic controllers, librarians, university professors and other government employees -- outnumber the hard hats largely because of a decline in manufacturing and in recent years a precipitous drop in new construction.

Sixty-five percent of the public work force in New Jersey is unionized, while only 10 percent of the private sector is.

A list of the state's 430 local unions reveals a new face for labor. Musicians, bartenders, nurses, stage hands, journalists and UPS drivers have organized along with carpenters, plumbers, ironworkers and longshoremen.

The New Jersey Education Association, the state's largest union, may not have been the hardest hit this year, but its public battle with Gov. Chris Christie has had the most exposure.

"From the moment Christie took office, he singled us out as the source of everything that's wrong in New Jersey. It's been brutal. Both sides are heavyweight fighters and both sides have been bloodied," said Steve Wollmer, spokesman for the 200,000-member union.

The stress has pushed 7,000 teachers, or about twice the normal number, to retire this year. Budget cuts have forced school districts to lay off about 3,000 teachers and 60,000 support personnel, including bus drivers, maintenance and cafeteria workers.

The union hopes to restore about 3,000 of those jobs with a $268 million federal grant, but unfortunately it is not likely to happen until the school year is well under way, said Wollmer.

Jim Kehoe, president of Southern New Jersey Building Trades, which represents 25,000 workers from Burlington City south, said the local economy would be in worse shape without the explosion in health care facilities.

"New Jersey is not viewed kindly by investors. People on Wall Street and Trenton have to figure out strategies to bring money into the state," said Kehoe.

Despite deep revenue losses in Atlantic City, he is optimistic the city will turn around. He is also optimistic about the Aviation Research Park in Pomona, the Rowan Boulevard expansion in Glassboro, the new medical school in Camden and a 16-story dormitory about to be built on the Rutgers campus.

"Labor Day started out to celebrate 40-day work weeks and fair treatment of employees. Unfortunately, today there is not much to celebrate," said Kehoe.