August 30, 2019 - On Monday, September 2, 2019, and throughout the weekend, we celebrate Labour Day. Let’s remember what Canadian labour rights we all owe to Union activism: safer workplaces, maternity and paternity leave, medical care, weekends, paid vacation, unemployment insurance, better public pensions, and a recent ban on asbestos, among so many other achievements. Take a moment to imagine how your working conditions would be if there had been no union to fight for them.
As Local 1944 celebrates its 75th anniversary, Labour Day is an occasion to commemorate our Local’s relentless fight for workers’ rights. There has been no shortage of energy spent on fighting for what’s right since 1944: negotiating collective agreements and benefits, promoting fair wages, improving working conditions, fighting against the contracting out of your jobs, winning greater equity for all, organizing campaigns to try to keep jobs in Canada, lobbying for political leaders who advance workers’ rights… Despite all these achievements, it is bitter to observe that 75 years later, we still have to fight for a world where workers are not discriminated against because of race, gender, sexual orientation, or disability, and for harassment-free workplaces.
147 years after the first Canadian Labour Day in 1872, we acknowledge and celebrate the progress and victories made by the labour movement throughout Canada to improve working people’s rights. However, on this day, we also need to commit to building a brighter future for our children, as corporations attack workers and labour rights daily, with the help of conservative forces that push to roll back social progress while making it easier for the rich to get richer. Every one of us needs to stand up against these attacks.
For all these reasons, labour activists are encouraged to join a Labour Day event. Seize the opportunity to meet with fellow union members, build solidarity within your community, and march to ask for a better future! Find the full list of events on the Canadian Labour Congress website.
Please email your Labour Day photos to photos@usw1944.ca.
In Solidarity,
USW Local 1944
