Labour Day more than a holiday weekend

Over time, Labour Day, for a great many people, has become little more than a long weekend marking the end of summer and the start of the school year. Fall fairs, back-to-school shopping, drop offs at college/university and a return from summer vacations having long since shrouded the day’s importance.

Labour Day first became a statutory holiday in Canada almost 129 years ago (1894). Historically, workers have marked the day with parades, speeches, and picnics. In the time since, unions have achieved substantial across-the-board improvements in hours of work, wages and overtime, health benefits, pensions, health and safety regulations, and time off for vacation, illness, and pregnancy for example. All things we now take for granted in today’s workplace. However, its also important to note that none of those improvements occurred because of the kindness of employers. They all occurred because workers and their unions demanded fairness. 

Over the past 129 years, big business interests have made concerted efforts to vilify and stigmatize unionization with the narrative that a safe workplace with fairly compensated workers is somehow a risk to the livelihood of the economy. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, unions have done the opposite and proven to be the proverbial tide that lifts all boats, in that what first gets collectively bargained for a few, quickly becomes the norm for greater society. Healthcare, pensions, pregnancy, and parental leave – again just to name a few – all started because workers and their unions demanded what was fundamental to a good, just, and fair workplace. Make no mistake, Canadians also have those same healthcare, pensions, and family leave provisions because of the union movement – not because of the kindness of businesses or politicians of any stripe. The old union adage, “What we want for ourselves, we want for all”, has played out in real life over time.

We’ve been reminded of the value of unions in recent times – when unions successfully fought for the health and safety protection of workers during the pandemic – when unions rose up against Bill 124 to successfully challenge it in the courts – when unions took to the streets to successfully protest Bill 28 and see to its shameful retraction – and when unions successfully litigated the observance of the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation (NDTR).

In all these instances, your union, AMAPCEO, has been not just a player but a leader, an influencer, and a successful advocate by:

• demanding and achieving remote work for two years at the height of the pandemic
• preserving and advancing remote work into hybrid work for the past 18 months
• being a founding member of a coalition of unions taking Bill 124 to court
• anteing up $1M for the legal battle against Bill 28
• leading the six OPS bargaining agents in litigating the recent observance of NDTR
• being at the vanguard for advancing and enshrining hybrid work

AMAPCEO has demonstrated its resolve in demanding fairness for its members – and by extension for all workers.

Despite these many wins, the battle continues on two key fronts. Those being the righting of Bill 124 and the post-pandemic evolution of remote work. As members are well aware, Bill 124 has recently had its second day in court, having been appealed by its author, the government of Ontario, when the courts ruled it unconstitutional. While eagerly awaiting that outcome, we continue to lobby the government and the employer to willingly correct what others have deemed not only unlawful, but also unnecessary. Likewise, we continue our battle to evolve a remote workplace model that worked so well during the pandemic into an enduring hybrid workplace of the future against the headwinds of an unwilling employer.

That said, it's important to note that these two issues are not unlike the issues of 1894 and any others that have arisen in the 129 years since the first Labour Day. Change requires resolve and takes time. It does not happen overnight, and it does not happen without friction or frustration. It happens when workers remain steadfast and when workers persevere.

This Labour Day let’s reflect on the great many gains made by so many workers and unions before us and commit to seeing through that which we want now – for ourselves and for all. 

Stronger together,