Letter carriers already walk many miles delivering mail each day along their routes. What's one more to make a point?

A group of about 40 carriers and their families marched down Abbott Road in South Buffalo on Monday as part of the AFL-CIO Council's annual Labor Day Parade to protest a Postal Service proposal to eliminate Saturday home delivery.

"Right now it's looking pretty good," said Robert J. McLennan, president of the Buffalo branch of the National Association of Letter Carriers. "A Senate subcommittee has already come out with a ruling that they want to maintain six-day delivery. So we're feeling pretty confident right now that we're going to stop this."

All fields of organized labor, including steelworkers, autoworkers and public employees, were out in big numbers Monday to celebrate the power of collective bargaining at a time of recession and record unemployment levels.

True to the adage that voters start paying attention to upcoming primaries and elections on and after Labor Day, the procession was filled with candidates -- especially for state representative and judicial offices -- glad-handing spectators along the route.

With the election season soon to heat up with a primary next Tuesday, unions are busy doling out endorsements and cash contributions to electoral hopefuls aligned with their agenda of ensuring good-paying jobs with fair benefits.

David Wasiura, a local steelworkers union vice president and machine operator at American Brass, said he has spent the last two months in Pittsburgh coordinating the union's national campaign to educate members about local issues.

"We make sure that we work with the candidates that are going to look out for our issues," he said.

A once-thriving Western New York steel industry that included giants such as Bethlehem Steel and Republic Steel was hurt by free trade agreements that sent jobs and production outside the United States, he said. Labor Day is a "thank you" to workers who came before, he said.

"That's what today's celebration is -- where we've come from, where we've started and where we need to go," he said.

Meanwhile, autoworkers have been buoyed by recent news that General Motors' Town of Tonawanda engine plant is recalling laid-off workers for its two new engine lines. Ford's Buffalo Stamping Plant in Hamburg is involved with the popular Edge and Flex vehicles. And some parts makers are hiring.

"We're still not 100 percent where we were in the early '90s when things were good, but we're starting to see that turnaround," said Jim Lakeman, organizer of the United Auto Workers' group of 50 marchers. "Things are starting to look up. We're a little optimistic."

One local union official pointed to Buffalo's emerging medical corridor, which encompasses Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo General Hospital, Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute and other life sciences and health-related companies as a local bright spot in health care, a sector of the economy projected to grow.

"The biggest thing is nobody's sure what's going to happen with health care reform," said Dave Palmer, New York/New England director for the Communication Workers of America, which represents 7,500 workers in Western New York, including health care workers at Kaleida Health and Catholic Health Systems. "Everyone has a different opinion. Labor has one opinion. The health insurance companies have an opinion. And the providers have an opinion. Not surprisingly, none of them match."

Union members have to balance those realities with honoring all that labor has achieved, said Michael Hoffert, president of the Buffalo AFL-CIO Council, as marchers lunched nearby on donated hot dogs and pop.

"Today is a day of celebration for all labor's accomplishments," he said. "But we still are very mindful of the challenges that lie in front of us."

jpopiolkowski@buffnews.comnull