Celebrating Collective Action This Labour Day

September 1, 2023

Wow. The last year has been an inspir­ing tes­ta­ment to what union mem­bers can achieve when we act togeth­er.

You only have to glance at the news to see that union mem­bers have been tak­ing unprece­dent­ed lev­els of col­lec­tive action from coast-to-coast-to-coast in what has been called a ​‘red hot labour sum­mer’ — and work­ers have been win­ning.

In ear­ly 2023, there were strikes at Cape Bre­ton Uni­ver­si­ty, Memo­r­i­al Uni­ver­si­ty, UPEI, and Laval — work­ers in acad­e­mia fight­ing for fair­ness and respect — and they won.

In April, there was a nation-wide strike of pub­lic ser­vice work­ers fight­ing for high­er wages and strong remote work lan­guage — and they won.

In July, we saw long­shore work­ers in BC strik­ing against con­tract­ing out and automa­tion that would lose jobs — and they won.

I could go on and on about the col­lec­tive action being tak­en by work­ers across Cana­da, the US, and the world.

From Ama­zon to Star­bucks, UPS to Hol­ly­wood, health­care to edu­ca­tion to gro­cery store work­ers — it’s clear that when we work togeth­er we can resist the sta­tus quo and make big gains.

And as more and more work­ers start fight­ing back against cuts to pub­lic ser­vices, cor­po­rate greed, the high cost of liv­ing, and the con­stant down­ward pres­sure on work­ing con­di­tions, I can’t help but notice that no mat­ter where we work, the issues fac­ing us and our neigh­bours are all the same.

At a time when it feels like polit­i­cal polar­iza­tion is at an all time high — this year has giv­en me so much hope that work­ing togeth­er has the poten­tial to define our com­mu­ni­ties instead.

This Labour Day let’s cel­e­brate what we can achieve when we work togeth­er with a shared pur­pose.

Col­lec­tive action is at the heart of the labour move­ment at that’s some­thing that as union mem­bers, we can all be proud of.

So while you enjoy the long week­end, I encour­age you to join a Labour Day cel­e­bra­tion in your com­mu­ni­ty, reflect on the gains work­ing peo­ple have made over the past year, and remem­ber that when we work togeth­er — we win.

In sol­i­dar­i­ty,

Britt Hall

URFA Pres­i­dent