John J. Murphy will be the 2024 New York City Labor Day Parade Grand Marshal.
Murphy is among the leaders of the Pipetrades union, serving as International Representative of the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters.
Born in the Bronx, raised in Yonkers, Murphy's local was in Long Island City.
According to his profile, Murphy was initiated into the membership of the former UA Local 2, the home Local of George Meany, in January of 1984. He is a fourth-generation union plumber in the city of New York. After completing his apprenticeship, John worked in various capacities of the plumbing industry in both the private and public sectors.
In 1996 John was elected as union Recording Secretary and has since been elected as a Business Agent, Financial Secretary-Treasurer and Business Manager, a position that he held until his unanimous elections as a UA International Representative in 2016 and 2021.
His duties as International Representative include representing 13 UA plumbing, pipefitting, welding, steam fitting and sprinkler fitting local unions in New York with more than 24,000 members.
John is also Vice-President of the New York City Central Labor Council, New York State Building and Construction Trades Council and the New York State AFL-CIO.
He serves on the boards of NYS Helmets to Hardhats, Climate Jobs NY, Climate Jobs National Resource Center, the Workers Institute Advisory Council at Cornell University and the Cornell Climate Jobs Advisory Board. John has also served as a Board Member of both the Edward J. Malloy Construction Skills Initiative and Nontraditional Employment for Women.
According to a release, the parade will take place on Saturday morning, September 7, "when tens of thousands of New Yorkers representing more than 200 unions will come together in a celebration of solidarity on New York’s City’s famed Fifth Avenue for the 142nd annual Labor Day Parade.
"The theme of this year’s parade is 'All Workers, Many Voices, One Fight,' underscoring the unity among NYC workers and union members from diverse backgrounds as they advocate for better conditions and fair treatment."
The parade will step off at 10 a.m. at 5th Avenue and 44th St. It will proceed uptown to a reviewing stand at 64th Street.
