SPRINGFIELD — A longtime Springfield resident and statewide labor leader will receive a special honor this Labor Day when he leads the nation's oldest continuous Labor Day parade.
Bob Guy, Illinois State Director for the SMART Transportation Division, has been selected as Grand Marshal of the 2026 Galesburg Labor Day Parade, recognizing a career of more than three decades in railroading and organized labor.
The parade will step off at 10 a.m. Monday, Sept. 7, along Main Street in downtown Galesburg. Hosted by the Galesburg Trades & Labor Assembly, the annual event brings together union members, families, marching bands and community organizations to celebrate the contributions of working people.
For Guy, who has lived in Springfield since 1999 and has joined Galesburg SMART-TD members at the parade for more than a decade, the recognition carries special meaning.
"Being recognized as Grand Marshal of the Galesburg Labor Day parade is truly humbling," Guy said. "It's always a highlight of mine to join them as they and other unions and organizations show off their pride in the work they do for their families and community alike."
Guy's career has deep roots in central Illinois.
Raised in Lincoln, Guy followed his grandfather's advice and hired out as a brakeman for Southern Pacific in 1994. He worked the former St. Louis segment of the historic Chicago & Alton Railroad main line, which runs through Springfield and connects Chicago, Joliet, Bloomington-Normal and St. Louis.
His union leadership began soon afterward. Guy was elected legislative representative for UTU Local 234 in 1996 and later became Alternate State Director.
By 2004, he was working in Springfield alongside then-State Director Joe Szabo and Assistant Director John Burner, representing railroad employees and their families before state government. Guy later became Assistant Legislative Director and, in 2009, State Legislative Director after Szabo was confirmed as administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration.
Guy has since become a familiar voice at the Illinois Capitol on rail safety, transportation and workers' rights.
During his tenure, he has helped lead efforts to expand state-supported Amtrak service and enact workplace protections including the Railroad Employees Medical Treatment Act and Safe Walkways Act. He has also served as an Illinois AFL-CIO vice president since 2009 and participated in organized labor's successful campaign for the Illinois Workers' Rights Amendment.
His transportation advocacy has extended beyond the Statehouse. Guy served as a gubernatorial appointee to the Northern Illinois Public Transit Task Force and as Illinois' private-sector representative to the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission, where he was reelected chairman in 2019.
Today, Guy continues representing railroad workers in Springfield and Washington on issues ranging from rail safety and working conditions to protecting experienced railroad employees and maintaining reliable freight service.
Guy and his wife of 27 years, Cindy, have made Springfield their home for more than a quarter-century. They have two children, Taylor and Bobby, and two grandchildren, Bralynn and Blaine.
For Guy, those family connections help explain why the labor movement remains important.
"Being a union member and leader means being part of a larger effort that fights every day for the betterment and protection of its hard-working essential members," Guy said, "and being part of an organization that is dedicated to supporting its members from their first day of work, to the very last."
On Labor Day, Guy will carry that message from Springfield to Galesburg as he leads a parade that generations of Illinois workers have made an annual tradition.
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