Every four years, Labor Day is traditionally the kickoff date for the presidential election season, and this year the first Monday in September has even more significance.

The nation will elect a new president, but in Michigan, voters will also be electing Supreme Court justices, appellate, county and local judges, a U.S. senator, congressional representatives, state representatives, and hundreds of local offices.

Celebrations of labor's solidarity will take place on Monday, Sept. 4 with parades in Detroit, Grand Rapids, Marquette and Muskegon.

Some 100,000 workers annually attend the Detroit Labor Day parade.

"We think this is a winning parade that thousands of working families will participate in," said Michigan AFL-CIO Parade Coordinator Mark Alexander. "With that in mind and this being an election year, we didn't have to go far to develop the theme which is, "When Working Families Vote, We All Win."

The Detroit march is set to start at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 4. Parade participants will meet at the usual gathering spots along Trumbull south of Michigan Ave. and There is no change in the meeting area for parade participants, who will gather along Trumbull south of Michigan Avenue at around 8-9 a.m.

However, there is a change in how the parade will be routed: in the past few years, the building trades have marched east along Michigan Avenue. This year, because of construction in the Kern Block area, the building trades will proceed north along Trumbull, turning right on Grand River and finishing at the Lodge Freeway near the Motor City Casino.

The rest of organized labor marching in the parade will also change the direction of their march: the Woodward parade participants will begin at Michigan Avenue and proceed north to Mack Avenue. A LaborFest celebration will take place at the Carpenters Union Hall at Woodward and Mack after the parade.

Also, make plans to give blood before or after the parade, as the American Red Cross will be setting up shop at the IBEW Local 58 hall on Abbott, east of Trumbull, once again this year from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

If you want to make your Labor Day an even longer one downtown, a number of unions have $8 tickets available for the 5 p.m. Detroit Tiger game that day. Contact your local union.

In Grand Rapids, parade-goers will gather at John Ball Park, where buses will take participants to the start of the parade at Winter and Fulton streets. The parade starts at 10 a.m. After the parade at 12:30 p.m., a picnic with rides and entertainment will take place at John Ball Park.

In Marquette, the 2000 Labor Day Festival will start with an 11 a.m. parade along Third Street, followed by a picnic and other activities at Mattson Lower Harbor Park. The event, which usually attracts 2,500, is sponsored by the Marquette County Labor Council.

In Muskegon, parade-goers from the building trades are invited to meet at the old Plumbers and Pipe Fitters Local 154 union hall at 1341 Getty St. The parade is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. along Lake Shore Dr.

The first Labor Day -noted as a "workingmen's holiday" - was a product of the labor movement in New York, first celebrated on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 1882. By 1894, 23 states had adopted the holiday in honor of workers, and on June 28 of that year, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday.

According to the AFL-CIO, some records show that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, was first in suggesting a day to honor those "who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold."