Employees were toasted and their employers roasted along with about 1,000 hamburgers, hot dogs and sausages at the annual Labor Day picnic in Stewart Park Monday.

A couple hundred people from all walks of life gathered near the main pavilion to partake in politics and potato salad as part of a tradition that goes back 25 years and is organized by the Tompkins County Workers' Center and the Midstate Central Labor Council.
Long-time Ithaca resident Barbara Wayman was a rare specimen, a Republican in a sea of Democrats, but she said she could agree with most of what was said and found a community picnic an apt venue. "There are a lot of people out of work who don't know where their next meal is coming from," Wayman said.
Among those recognized were two workers who blew the whistle on their employers. Viola Scott successfully took on a downtown retailer who paid her below the minimum wage, and received $1,200 in back payments. Thomas Lackner lost an estimated $250,000 in unpaid overtime in 16 years at a Lansing restaurant, and is consulting with the Department of Labor to recover about $40,000, picnic coordinator Pete Meyers said.
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