While Labor Day for many is just the end of a three-day weekend and sometimes a day for a cookout, the holiday recognizes the American labor movement.

“Labor Day is a time to reflect on the progress … that they’ve made over decades to make better lives for ourselves and our families,” said Jeff Shudak, president of the Western Iowa Labor Federation.

Webster County Supervisor Niki Conrad, the Democratic candidate for re-election in the county’s District 4, shared a message of gratitude for the work that labor unions have done over the decades, giving workers weekends, vacations, sick leave, the Family Medical Leave Act and paid holidays.

Conrad said her “primary drives in life are to treat people with decency and demand the same decency in return.”

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Webster County Supervisor Niki Conrad speaks during the Western Iowa Labor Federation's Labor Day Picnic at Oleson Park on Sunday.

“That’s all that’s asked for in a union,” she said. “Union members ask for a fair wage. Union members ask to be treated as fellow human beings. Union members ask for a seat at the table. In today’s harsh political climate, unions look to their fellow workers and think, ‘How can we help? What can we do to make this better?. Thank you, unions, for making things better.”

Tommy Coleman, the Democratic candidate for the Webster County Supervisor District 5 seat, shared his reasons for running for office.

“It’s my opportunity to give back to my community because of the benefits and the things that my community has given to me,” he said. “My family’s history is here in Webster County. My family actually was here before the fort, on the south side of Fort Dodge along the river … My roots are here in Webster County and I want to help lead Webster County and see where it’s going in the future.”

The small audience also heard from Ryan Melton, the Democratic candidate for Iowa’s Fourth Congressional District, who is running against Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Hull.

“I’m running to make sure that our Democratic Party values — and not just our Democratic Party values, because I’m not necessarily a puppet of D.C. or Des Moines — I just want to carry the values that are embodied within the labor rights movement,” Melton said. “I want to make sure that as we’re building our families in this district, that we have all the support we need to have, the lives we deserve to live, that we’re paid commensurate with the value we bring and we feel safe and respected in our workplace.”

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Ryan Melton, candidate for Iowa's Fourth Congressional District, speaks during the Western Iowa Labor Federation's Labor Day Picnic at Oleson Park on Sunday.

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Michael Franken was unable to attend Sunday’s picnic, but former Iowa State Sen. Daryl Beall, of Fort Dodge, was on hand to share the candidate’s message, saying that Franken is electable against incumbent Sen. Charles Grassley, a Republican.

“This is the first time we’ve had this opportunity since Tom Harkin left us — he is electable,” Beall said of Franken.

Harkin was a Democratic U.S. senator from Iowa from 1985 to 2015.

Beall noted that Grassley has been in elected office for more than 60 years — first serving in the Iowa House, then in the U.S. House of Representatives and as U.S. senator since 1981.