Labour Day was celebrated in Sudbury with an event hosted by the Sudbury and District Labour Council (SDLC) and a call for government to work toward a strong pandemic recovery plan.
SDLC president Jessica Montgomery said the pandemic of the past year and a half has been hard on many Canadian frontline workers, for both those who had to continue working through difficult circumstances and for those who lost their employment.
"As we recover from COVID-19, we must ensure that we do not return to the status quo. This is why Canada's unions are calling for improvements so that we can start to move out of the pandemic, Montgomery told the audience gathered in the United Steelworkers hall parking lot on Brady Street.
She said that getting workers back to work would be at the heart of any recovery plan in order to be successful.
"These jobs have to offer a living wage and benefits like paid sick days and pensions and a path to unionization," she said. Montgomery said the plan also needs to improve Canada's social safety net for anyone who needs it.
"And a plan must include access to universal, affordable childcare that works for families," she said.
Montgomery added that a recovery plan needs to address long-standing inequality that has long plagued marginalized workers in Canada, particularly women, women of color and workers with disabilities.
In a brief mention of the upcoming federal election, which takes place in two weeks, Montgomery said it is time to demand change from politicians by asking them what they will do for pandemic recovery.
"We're not interested in Band Aid solutions. Without workers, there's no recovery. And that must be our message today on Labour Day and beyond," she said.
Greater Sudbury Mayor Brian Bigger also addressed the crowd as he read out a formal proclamation for labour day.
Bigger thanked the SDLC and labour leaders for coming together to celebrate Labour Day with what he called a consistent approach in responding to the pandemic.
"And our success in the City of Greater Sudbury really goes out to the workers, the leaders in our community where we've had that common voice and have had I believe great success in dealing with COVID-19," he said.
He said by keeping workplaces safe, it has helped to keep the community safe and to keep as many businesses open as humanly possible.
"You all influence the strength and the well being of our society. And in turn, labour unions have had the duty to advocate for work, recreation, and rest. For many years, our local labour unions and workers and advocacy groups have played a crucial role in moving Greater Sudbury forward," said the mayor.
"And in the wake of COVID-19, you have continued to work on issues such as paid sick days and emergency leave. It's labour that built our city into what it is today. It's the labour movement that gave us equitable and safe work conditions along the way," Bigger added.
Also speaking to the crowd was Nickel Belt New Democrat MPP France Gélinas who said she was happy to celebrate the day that honours all the achievements of workers and organized labour. But Gélinas said she was not pleased that many public sector workers are losing rights because of BILL 124 that gives employers the right to change a worker's normal job function or change time-off privileges.
"I am worried. But at the same time, I look at the good people around here and know that together, we can do this. Together we can gain back the rights that were taken away from us in the last year, and move us further ahead; move us to a place where we have pharmacare, where we have dental care, where we look after workers and that every single worker has paid sick days," she said.
The crowd also heard from Sudbury New Democrat MPP Jamie West, formerly president of the labour council. He said Labour Day is a time when many politicians will say they are committed to supporting labour, when it is convenient for them.
West singled out Liberals and Conservatives as being worker-friendly on Labour Day, but actually ignoring the true concerns of workers. He reminded the group that as the car rally drove up to the Steelworkers hall, they passed by people living in tents in Memorial Park.
"I hate to be political because I don't want to make people uncomfortable. But it's time for us to have a frank conversation when we talk about solidarity," said West.
He recalled that as a young man he saw his parents coping with what he called "precarious work" and now he said contract work has become the norm in Canada.
Too many politicians talk about jobs when they need to talk about careers. We need to fight for careers," said West.
He added that pandemic recovery will happen when people can get back to work with good jobs and earn enough money that they can go to restaurants, buy their own groceries and even afford to stay in a hotel if they have to.
Nick Larochelle, the president of United Steelworkers Local 6500, said Labour Day 2021 has a special meaning because the union came through a labour dispute with employer Vale Canada Ltd.
Larochelle said the union endured a two-month strike and had community-wide support from other unions and even contractors. He said another key factor was the availability of instant communication with the membership. Larochelle said it was the focus of USW's success in the dispute.
"That communication was something that has never been achieved by Local 6500 before and that instant communication was so integral to our ability to keep our message solid," said Larochelle.
He said it was a rewarding experience as a trade unionist and was a textbook success story for the labour movement.
"The world now understands that when USW and the rest of the Sudbury unions and our families, friends and neighbors are called to action, there will be unity and solidarity," said Larochelle.
