Labour Day is a celebration of everything working people have accomplished through our struggle to improve our lives at work, at home, and in our communities. It is also a day to recommit to this fight, which is far from over. Ask AUPE members anywhere in this province and they will tell you there is still work to be done and progress to be made.
Yet some people think unions are ancient relics with no modern purpose. This line of thinking may seem persuasive if you take the labour movement’s historic victories for granted, such as the five-day work week, the weekend, pensions, workplace health and safety, women's rights and more. But if you really think about it, unions are as important as ever precisely because we must fight to hold on to these hard-won benefits.
Governments and employers try to roll back these benefits every chance they get. They try making us work longer and sometimes even for free; they take advantage of teenagers, temporary foreign workers, and new Canadians by offering them worse contracts and lower pay, especially in the service and care industries; they attack our basic rights and make the workplace unwelcoming for women. Labour Day reminds us to cherish what we have won and to resist all attempts to go back to our society’s old, anti-worker ways.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a more modern phenomenon which demonstrates the importance of unions. Many front-line workers would have gone without proper personal protective equipment if they did not have the power of union support and solidarity. Workplaces would have been even more dangerous without AUPE members’ commitment to our collective wellbeing. This once-in-a-century pandemic is yet another example of why a strong labour movement is important for our whole society’s health and safety.
There are, of course, thousands of workers who will not have the opportunity to spend the Labour Day weekend with friends and loved ones. This includes many AUPE members and other front-line employees who work through the Labour Day weekend to deliver essential services across our province. Labour Day is an opportunity for all Albertans to commemorate your efforts and thank you for everything you do for us.
But the working class's struggle goes well beyond working through a long weekend. Not everyone works five days a week at one job. Not everyone feels safe or respected at work. Not everyone has a pension plan. The entire labour movement—including union and non-union, blue-collar and white-collar workers—must keep up the fight so that everyone can experience such benefits.
In the spirit of Labour Day, let us dare to dream of a better future. Let us dream of a future where workers look back on us and our actions the same way we look back on the brave workers who won the weekend. Let us find the courage to take on new challenges, to organize our workplaces, to strengthen our union, to work together—in solidarity—and in doing so improve the lives of AUPE members, our loved ones, and all Albertans.