Hundreds take part in Windsor Labour Day march as unions launch new workers' rights campaign
Hundreds of people marked Labour Day in Windsor, Ont., on Monday by marching down Kildare Road and Ottawa Street.
Many held flags emblazoned with the logos of some of the country's largest labour unions: Unifor, CUPE, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), the Teamsters, and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation, among others.
They then gathered for a rally in Lanspeary Park, where the interim president of the Windsor and District Labour Council (WDLC) urged them to join in a new Canadian Labour Congress campaign for workers' rights.
"As union members, we know the importance and value of solidarity," Mario Spagnuolo told the crowd.
"We must amplify workers' voices, expose politicians who don't support worker-friendly policies and help elect candidates who are committed to advocating for worker rights and policies that make life more affordable for our members."
Mario Spagnuolo, president of the Windsor & District Labour Council, speaks at the Labour Day rally in Windsor on Sept. 2. (Dalson Chen/CBC)
The campaign, called Workers Together: For a Better Deal, aims to remobilize the labour movement in the lead-up to the next federal election, Spagnuolo told CBC.
It's a plan designed by workers for workers that aims to "unite their voices against greedy corporations and politicians who have failed us through their legislation or their policies that have gone against us," he said.
Spagnuolo pointed to Ontario's Bill 124, which imposed a one per cent cap per year on compensation increases for public sector employees – and was subsequently struck down as unconstitutional by the Ontario Superior Court – as an example of the kind of initiative the campaign is protesting.
He also pointed to the recent decision by the federal government to force workers at the country's two biggest railways into binding arbitration.
"Workers have had enough," the labour council wrote in a news release announcing the campaign.
Former CAW national president Ken Lewenza Sr. said times are challenging for the labour movement, and it has a lot of work to do. (Dalson Chen/CBC)
"The richest among us are reaping all the benefits while everyone else struggles to get by. Workers, unions, and community leaders will unite with clear goals: amplify workers' voices, expose anti-worker politicians, and elect pro-worker candidates."
Ken Lewenza Sr., a former president of Unifor Local 444 and a former national president of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW), was at the rally.
He told CBC he thinks it's important to continue to grow activism among union members, particularly after two years of COVID-19-related restrictions on gathering sizes.
"We've got to build confidence, and we've got to build the future leadership that they could take on the fights for the future to preserve what we fought for," he said.
Lewenza called the current climate "incredibly challenging" for labour and said the movement has a lot of work to do.
Labour Day, he said, is a reminder that the struggle for workers' rights continues.
"You know, every once in a while we might take our gains for granted," he said.
"But every single day is a struggle. And this is a reminder that private and public sector unions must work together to advance the cause of our combined membership and Canadians more generally."
