Labour Day!

Updated: Jan 26, 2022

The Labour Day weekend marks the “Unofficial End Of Summer”! Usually if also means school is back on for students and the next big holiday is Halloween. The days are getting shorter and the weather is getting cooler. Fall is in the air and the leaves are starting to change on trees. It is really a great time to grab your camera and take some pictures.

On Sept. 5, 1882, tens of thousands of union laborers marched from New York City Hall to Union Square to protest deplorable working conditions amid the Industrial Revolution: Workers, including children as young as five years old, labored in unsafe factories, farms, mills and mines for 12 hours or more per day, seven days a week, often without breaks, fresh air or even clean water. Many workers risked their jobs and livelihoods to march.

The origins of Labour Day in Canada can be traced back to April 15, 1872, when the Toronto Trades Assembly organized Canada's first significant demonstration for worker's rights. The aim of the demonstration was to release the 24 leaders of the Toronto Typographical Union who were imprisoned for striking to campaign for a nine-hour working day. At that time, trade unions were still illegal and striking was a criminal conspiracy to disrupt trade. Despite this, the Toronto Trades Assembly was already a significant organization and encouraged workers to form trade unions, mediated in disputes between employers and employees and signaled the mistreatment of workers.

There was enormous public support for the parade and the authorities could no longer deny the important role that the trade unions had to play in the emerging Canadian society. A few months later, a similar parade was organized in Ottawa and passed the house of Canada’s first prime minister, Sir John Macdonald. Later in the day, he appeared before the gathering and promised to repeal all Canadian laws against trade unions. This happened in the same year and eventually led to the founding of the Canadian Labour Congress in 1883.

Labour Day was originally celebrated in the spring, but it was moved to the fall after 1894. A similar holiday, Labor Day is held on the same day in the United States of America. Canadian trade unions are proud that this holiday was inspired by their efforts to improve workers' rights. Many countries have a holiday to celebrate workers' rights on or around May 1.

The parades demonstrated solidarity, with different unions identified by the colorful banners they carried. In 1894, under mounting pressure from the working class, Prime Minister Sir John Thompson declared Labour Day a national holiday. Over time, Labour Day strayed from its origins and evolved into a popular celebration enjoyed by the masse