A showcase for the local labor movement will make its return this weekend.
After canceling the 2023 event, the Central Indiana AFL-CIO will host Indy Labor Fest from noon to 6 p.m. Aug. 24 at the Garfield Park amphitheater.
The free festival is a celebration of unions and doubles as an educational event for the public to learn more about organized labor.
The event will feature food trucks, bands, activities for kids and even a wrestling show. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own chairs and blankets.
This will be the first Labor Fest that resembles pre-pandemic times. Organizers canceled the festival last year after feedback from members and needing to find a new venue.
Past events were hosted on Georgia Street and Monument Circle. This will be the first Labor Fest at Garfield Park.
Kim Patrick, president of the Central Indiana AFL-CIO, hopes the festival can increase momentum for organized labor.
If you go
What: Indy Labor Fest
When: Noon to 6 p.m. Aug. 24
Where: Garfield Park amphitheater
Cost: Free
Patrick said she understands “union” can be a bad word for some people but that recent wins in the labor movement are helping to change that.
Just this year, workers at the REI store in Castleton voted to unionize, joining at least 10 other locations around the country. Starbucks employees at the Massachusetts Avenue location also became part of a national labor movement within the coffeehouse chain when they unionized in July.
And 1,500 United Auto Workers members in Indianapolis kicked off 2024 by threatening to strike against Allison Transmission. The two sides eventually struck a deal.
That’s why Patrick said she doesn’t buy into the negativity associated with unions.
“I remember when things were negative,” she said, “and things haven’t been negative for a few years.”
Labor data may help explain the shift.
Indiana has seen a slight increase in the share of unionized labor — up from 7.4% in 2022 to 8% in 2023, according to federal labor data.
Still, that’s the second lowest statewide rate in the last 10 years. And Indiana still lags behind the national unionization rate, which was 10% in 2023.
Mirror Indy reporter Tyler Fenwick covers housing and labor. Contact him at 317-766-1406 or tyler.fenwick@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @ty_fenwick.
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