Peter McGuire Labor Day Service Comes to Collingswood Friday Morning

U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, State Sen. President Stephen Sweeney and State Sen. Donald Norcross will speak at the 120th annual Peter J. McGuire Labor Day Observance on Friday.

The ceremony, the largest Labor Day event in the state, takes place Friday morning, Aug. 29, at the Collingswood Grand Ballroom, 315 White Horse Pike in Collingswood.

The ceremony begins at 9 a.m., followed by a wreath laying at the Peter J. McGuire Memorial, Arlington Cemetery, Cove Road in Pennsauken, 11 a.m.

Peter J. McGuire was a pioneer in organized labor in America and is considered to be the “Father of Labor Day.”

Over 400 Labor Council officers, delegates, local union officials, union members, elected officials and scholarship recipients will be in attendance.

Twenty-two scholarships of $1,000 each will be awarded to students who either are union members themselves, or who are related to a union member, and will be attending Camden County College, Rowan College at Gloucester County, Rowan University or Rutgers University in Camden.

Jennifer McQuaid, the Clerk of the New Jersey State Senate, will receive the 2014 George E. Norcross, Jr. Humanitarian Award for community service.

McQuaid has been active in the labor movement since she attended her first rally at the age of 16.