The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry on Wednesday rededicated The Pennsylvania Worker, a bronze sculpture “honoring generations of Pennsylvanians whose skill, grit and perseverance have built and continue to sustain the commonwealth.”
The department’s news release explained that the work, created by sculptor William F. Duffy and commissioned by the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO in 1992, depicts a laborer straining to lift a steel beam. It serves “as a tribute to the laborers, tradespeople and industrial workers whose efforts have shaped the state’s identity and economy; it is a permanent symbol of labor’s central role in Pennsylvania’s success.”
Pennsylvania AFL-CIO and labor leaders joined L&I for the rededication outside the Department of Labor & Industry Building in Harrisburg. Labor & Industry Secretary Nancy A. Walker, who noted that she’s privileged to walk past the sculpture daily, said, “His shoulders are tight with effort, his eyes fixed forward, lifting a weight that looks almost too much to bear. In him, I see the people he represents, the women and men of Pennsylvania who have given their strength, their skill and their determination so their families and communities can thrive. The Pennsylvania Worker does not stand for one job, one industry or one moment in time, he stands for all of Pennsylvania’s workers. And every day, he reminds us why we do this work: to fight for workplace fairness, opportunity and dignity for every Pennsylvanian.”
Weighing approximately 9,000 pounds, the bronze sculpture was first dedicated on Labor Day 1992 by then-Gov. Robert P. Casey, who called it “the most heroic monument in the capital city,” and a reminder of the working people whose labor built Pennsylvania and continues to move it forward. Casey described it as a tribute to ‘”the 10,000 faces we haven’t seen and the thousands of stories we haven’t heard and the stories of the working men and women who helped make Pennsylvania great.”
The release notes that the legacy continues through Gov. Josh Shapiro administration’s ongoing commitment to Pennsylvania’s workers, including increased funding for vocational, career and technical education and apprenticeship programs, by nearly $65 million.
The PUP is the publication of the striking workers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
