For many, Labour Day marks the end of summer and the return of fall activities, including going back to school. It’s the last summer-weather long weekend. And for some, it has a lot of meaning — remember and recommitting to the struggle for better working conditions.

This year, as Labour Day arrives, the most prominent dispute is on Canada’s rail lines where CN and CPKC locked out their Teamsters members. The Canada Industrial Relations Board last Saturday ordered CN and CPKC to resume operations and 9,300 workers to return to their posts at 12:01 a.m. Monday ahead of binding arbitration set to begin this week.

In a Labour Day statement, the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference said: “The recent decision by the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB), allowing the federal government to end job action in the rail sector, has set a dangerous precedent. It signals that the rights of Canadian workers can be diminished at the whim of corporate interests and government intervention.

“We must be clear: the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference will comply with the law, but we will not stand idle in the face of this injustice. We will appeal this ruling in federal court and continue to fight for the rights and dignity of every member.”

The Teamsters served CN with strike notice after being ordered back to work.

The Canadian Labour Congress plans to mark Labour Day by launching a new campaign on Monday, which they have teased on X. A Google search reveals: “This Labour Day, Canada's unions are launching ‘Workers Together: For a Better Deal,’ to empower workers and elevate their voices,” but those web pages are not yet active.

Another union, the United Food and Commercials Workers Canada is using Labour Day to promote its campaign for paid sick days. “There is no better way to thank frontline workers than supporting their activism on campaigns that are critical to improving their working conditions like access to paid sick days. This labour day ensure to send a message to public officials that paid sick days matter and demand they enact the necessary changes now,” the union says in a statement.

The UFCW is calling on all governments in Canada to legislate 10 paid sick days for all workers. Many union contracts have them, but in many provinces, non-union workers aren’t entitled to sick days. B.C. allows workers up to five paid sick days. Federally regulated workers are entitled to 10.

A Look Back: The Fight for a Shorter Workday

According to widely accepted history, campaigns in Ottawa and Toronto in the 1860s and '70s for a nine-hour work day were the spark that led to acceptance of the union movement, a shorter workday and, eventually, creation of Labour Day.

The “Nine-Hour Movement” began in Hamilton, Ont., and spread to Toronto, where its demands were taken up by the Toronto Typographical Union. In 1869, the union sent a petition to employers requesting a reduction in weekly work hours to 58. The request was refused by printing shops owners, most vehemently by George Brown of the Globe newspaper. (Up to 12-hour workdays and six-day work weeks were common then.)

On March 25, 1872, the printers went on strike. On April 14, a demonstration was held with some 2,000 workers marching through the city. By the time the parade reached the Ontario legislature, the crowd had grown to 10,000. The employers brought in replacement workers and, police, using a 1792 law that made union membership illegal, arrested and jailed 24 members of the strike committee.

Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald, Brown's chief political rival, however, had been watching the Nine-Hour Movement with sympathy. On June 14, the Macdonald government passed a Trade Union Act, which legalized and protected union activity.

Many strikers lost their jobs, but their sacrifices had long-term impacts. After 1872, almost all union demands in Canada and the United States included a 54-hour week.

The parades in support of the Nine-Hour Movement and the printers' strike led to annual celebrations. On July 22, 1882, American labour leader Peter J. McGuire attended one of these events. Inspired, he returned to New York and organized the first American “labour day” on Sept. 5 of that year.

Throughout the 1880s, pressure built in Canada to declare a national labour holiday, as it did in the United States. On July 23, 1894, the government of Sir John Thompson passed a law declaring the first Monday of September as Labour Day.

The Importance of Unionization

Canada’s unions – including those in Sudbury – are marking Labour Day on Monday by launching Workers Together: For a Better Deal. This is a campaign to empower workers and elevate their voices.

Jessica Montgomery, president of the Sudbury and District Labour Council, said there is a rise of anti-worker politicians at every level of government.

Under Workers Together: For a Better Deal, the intent is for workers, unions and community leaders to unite with clear goals: amplify workers’ voices, expose anti-worker politicians, and elect pro-worker candidates.

“It’s easy for politicians to say they support workers, but we need to see real actions to prove it,” Montgomery said in a release. “Workers are the backbone of the economy — we build infrastructure, care for the most vulnerable, educate young people, and serve our communities. Yet many of us still struggle to afford basic necessities like groceries and housing.”

Montgomery made her remarks ahead of local Labour Day celebrations. This year, workers, their families and the community are invited to celebrate Labour Day together at Delki Dozzi Park on Sept. 2 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., with a sensory hour from 10 to 11 a.m.

A Time to Reflect and Act

It’s already the Labour Day long weekend, which means back to school and back to rainy, fall weather! I wanted to take the time to wish everybody a Happy Labour Day.

On this day, let’s take time to celebrate all the achievements workers have fought for in this country. It is important to reflect on the nature of work and working conditions and to recognize the labour of the people who built this country and the labour organizations who have fought for and continue to fight for the rights of workers.

Workers now get to ​enjoy important benefits such as vacation days, sick days, appropriate work hours and standard working conditions. These were fought for and won by hardworking people who know their worth.

Whether you’re a port worker, nurse, writer or grocery clerk, all workers in Canada deserve a fair deal. Many jobs can come with unstable or challenging conditions that can affect workers’ lives. We have all seen stories about workers having burnout, stress and mental health struggles or who have gotten injured on the job.

As inflation for groceries, gas and housing keeps rising and interest rate hikes strain Canadians’ budgets, workers and their families are paying more and getting less. Workers didn’t cause inflation, and they shouldn’t be the ones who pay the price. It’s time to change that.

All workers deserve to earn a fair living wage, access to the resources and supports they need to work safely, and should have social safety nets that are there for them, however they need it. This includes access to paid sick days, dental and pharmacare programs, accessible health care and child care, and anti-scab legislation.

Labour Day came from working people who wanted to change unfair conditions and fought to raise their bar of dignity. By standing shoulder to shoulder with workers, we can create a more robust, fair society that tips the scales toward workers, ensuring their rights are not at risk.

At a time when workers are organizing to demand better wages and fairer working conditions, my NDP colleagues and I stand in solidarity with them. This Labour Day — and always — New Democrats have workers' backs. We will keep fighting for higher wages, better working conditions and stronger rights. No one should be left behind and workers deserve to have their voice heard.

Remembering the Past and Building a Better Future

This Monday, Sept. 2, workers across Canada will celebrate Labour Day. It is a chance to share in solidarity with each other and reflect on our successes as a movement.

But it’s hard to celebrate success when you are worried about housing, the cost of food, your job and buying power, your child’s opportunities, climate change, and the rise of hate and fascism around the world.

When politicians, leaders, pundits and media talk about the economy, about record stock market highs, corporate profits, fast paced development and soft landings, it’s like looking at a fun house mirror. The image is grossly distorted and deeply disquieting. Whose economy are they talking about, and who exactly is that economy benefiting when working people are struggling everywhere to just get by?

It is the best of times, and it is the worst of times.

The bosses continue to consolidate their gains and amass yet more wealth while workers and their families struggle with basic necessities. The high cost of groceries is a perfect example, with corporate power concentrated in a few large chains who are driving inflation through excess profits. Parliament has failed to hold these companies and CEOs accountable or implement windfall taxes to deter or curb their behaviour.

Instead, the talk is of “cooling the economy,” with measures like higher interest rates which drives higher unemployment and further reduces buying power; both the policy and the result disproportionately impacts working people.

The extremely wealthy seem to have no qualms about flaunting their attacks on workers’ rights to make a fair wage, to be housed, to be safe, to live. Whether they brazenly union bust, ostentatiously use social media to divide, or pour dark money into extremist ‘think tanks’ to corrupt our politics, there is an all-out bid to set the entire system against working people solely to ensure the status quo.

They want to perpetuate a belief that the concentration of wealth and power is inevitable, even beneficial, and there is nothing that can be done to change things.  

But workers know differently.

Unions are our best tool to push for fair treatment and hold corporations accountable. By organizing, we can build a future where working families thrive. Unions have always been at the forefront of the fight for workers' rights, advocating for fair wages, safe working conditions, decent retirement, and job security. Initiatives like the Canadian Labour Congress campaign Workers Together will ensure that every voice is heard in the struggle against corporate greed and anti-worker politicians. Organizing in our workplaces and our communities, building unions and fighting campaigns, is the only way to counter the power of the extremely wealthy.  

B.C. had one of the best post-COVID economic recoveries and continues to be strong, thanks in part to a government that didn’t offload yet more impacts and misery onto working families, but instead supported people and businesses through difficult times. After years of erosion and going backward, the choices of workers at the ballot box translated into the highest minimum wage in the country, stronger workplace protections, better safety regulations and more access to rights to unionize.

But there is still a lot of work left to be done on all these issues and more.

Working people in the Metro Vancouver region have choices to make in the next few years at every level of government and every vote matters. Workers must engage and participate to ensure democratic institutions remain robust and accountable. We have the power through our numbers, and organization, to elect the best people for the job, and to demand more and better for workers post-election.  

Workers can reject fear, hate and the false promises of political leaders who protect corporate interests with divide and conquer tactics. Such leaders hurt working people by protecting wealthy corporations from paying their fair share in taxes, while pushing for cuts to essential services like healthcare and pensions. The vicious cycle of cuts undermines institutions, which when weakened justifies privatization, which in turn cuts jobs, wages and benefits for workers. More and higher fees are also charged, which makes more money for the wealthy but deepens inequality and creates yet more economic misery for working people.  

A Vision for a Better Future

A better deal for workers means politicians who will reinvest in community-strengthening programs. Who will commit and follow through on affordable healthcare, social services, and accessible housing which are necessities for a fair society. These investments will continue to create a stronger, more resilient economy that benefits everyone.

Together, we can build the future we want to live in.

We won’t go back.