What Labour Day means to me

Local 1611 of the Laborer's Union ran a series of contests each month through 2022 to encourage member involvement. The theme for September was what Labour Day means:

I was born on the first of September, so when I was a kid Labour Day meant that I never went to school on my birthday. As a young adult, Labour Day meant time to sign up for some fall courses: Concrete Repair, or Demolition Cutting Torch, or Non-Violent Social Action. No, the Training Fund did not teach me non-violent social action: that was the Quakers.  But every labour course or event I attended always carried the same underlying message: a better world is possible if we work for it. Together.


As an old guy,  Labour Day is a reminder that we are all part of history. Labour Day in 2022 comes a hundred and fifty years after printers in Toronto went on strike as part of the Nine-Hour Movement. Twenty-four of them were arrested because trade union activity was a "criminal conspiracy". In the political fuss that followed, Parliament passed the Trade Union Act, "giving" workers the right of association. It's been a busy 150 years for the Canadian labour movement.  So enjoy the day off, remember those who made it possible, and think about your part in the better world that we all promise our kids. 

*****


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