To: Members of the CLC Canadian Council, Federations of Labour, Labour Councils and CLC Staff
Greetings:
Labour Day plays a critical moment in our movement’s calendar. It represents the coming together of workers to celebrate our collective victories and advance our efforts to improve the lives of all workers.
The global pandemic has shone a harsh light on society’s inequalities; inequalities the labour movement has long fought to address.
Following the last global pandemic, through the Great Depression and World War II, workers organized in unions to build a better future. In the resulting decades, Canada’s middle class was created. Through collective organizing, workers rebuilt a fairer economy and paved a pathway to prosperity for millions of families.
With the challenges facing workers from the current pandemic, the solution to a better future remains the same as it was a hundred years ago; workers must organize.
Through collective organizing into unions, we can build a better future. A future without precarity in the workplace, a future with paid sick leave, higher wages and fairer benefits.
When we organize collectively we can ensure life is fairer for everyone. We can bring down the costs families face with pharmacare, affordable housing and dental coverage. We can ensure care is there and accessible for our loved ones when they need it. We can tackle the climate crisis head-on, while creating good, sustainable jobs in communities across Canada.
Labour Day 2022 is an opportunity to call for societal transformation to address the social and economic gaps in our communities. It is a pivotal moment to send a clear message that this is our moment as a movement, that we will move Forward Together.
Our Labour Day 2022 theme will be Forward Together: This is our moment. We believe it is forward-looking, inclusive and sends a message to all workers that there is a brighter path forward with Canada’s unions.
This theme will allow us to highlight policies we know will make life better for all Canadians – including calling for better jobs and better workplace health and safety measures, and a better social safety net.
Canada’s labour movement has a bold, progressive plan that aims to narrow the gap between the have and have-nots and place workers directly at the centre of a COVID-19 recovery.
This Labour Day, we will champion the policies we know Canadians deserve and we will demonstrate how unions benefit communities and workers.
Canadians came together to fight COVID-19 with focus and determination. We must come together in the same way to build a future that ensures no one is left behind. Canada’s unions are integral in shaping this bold future and helping to lead a clear path to recovery.
In order to help labour bodies promote Labour Day events, editable promotional posters and social media share graphics can be downloaded. You’ll also find our messaging guide for all of your Labour Day content needs.
In the coming weeks, you will be receiving more information on digital products, tools and templates for use in the lead up to and on Labour Day.
Together, we will demonstrate our commitment to improving the lives of all Canadians.
Please contact our political action and communications team with any questions at politics@clcctc.ca.
In solidarity,
Bea Bruske
President
Link to official letter here.