by KYW’s Mike Dunn

What will be one of the few monuments in this country to the American worker is now planned for a park in Southwest Philadelphia.

Penny Balkin Bach, executive director of the Fairmount Park Art Association, looked into monuments to the labor movement throughout the country, and was surprised:

“There aren’t many monuments to American labor in the country, we learned.”

So now the Art Association is spearheading a monument to the American worker as the centerpiece of Elmwood Park in Southwest Philadelphia. Bach says it will include seven so-called work button tables, each marking a key event in American labor history:

“These work button tables will be placed in a circle, surrounded by a seating area, so that you will be able to look down on them, read them, and ponder them. And it will create this central plaza for the park.”

Bach says national labor unions are helping foot the $400,000 bill, and she hopes for completion by May Day.