What will you be doing this Labour Day?
The first Labour Day in Canada occurred on April 15, 1872, when Toronto Trades Assembly organized a workers' demonstration.
Twenty-seven unions took to the streets to demand the release of Toronto Typographical Union (TTU) leaders. They were imprisoned for staging, at that time, a 'criminal' strike to limit working hours to nine hours per day.
Inspired by the events in Toronto, seven Ottawa unions organized a parade with an artillery band flanked by local firefighters on September 3, 1872. As workers marched past the prime minister's residence, Sir John A. MacDonald joined. Later that evening, Prime Minister MacDonald announced to the crowd his government would eliminate the "barbarous laws" that imprisoned the TTU leaders.
The MacDonald government honoured the Prime Minister's wishes and abolished those laws by the year's end.
On July 23, 1894, Labour Day was declared a holiday for the first Monday of September. This Canadian event has inspired international Labour Days.
Since then, workers, including those in Oakville, marched down main streets, with community members lining the streets to show appreciation.
Over the years, fewer and fewer people attended Labour Day parades, leading to Labour Day symbolizing the last weekend of summer to be celebrated with friends and family.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we learned the importance of those individuals working in our hospitals, driving buses, collecting garbage, stocking shelves, educating children, fighting fires, apprehending criminals, manufacturing goods and delivering products. We took time to express our gratitude by banging pots at a special time of day or purchasing a cup of coffee for a frontline worker.
Let's not lose that wonderful spirit.
So, how will you acknowledge the people who keep our community safe, clean and operating?
Sometimes it can be as simple as saying, "Thank you."
If you wish to participate in a Labour Day parade, the closest event is in Hamilton on Sept. 5.
