Labour Day 2026 Statement

Workers Together: For our jobs and our rights

Happy Labour Day

Labour Day is a celebration of hard-working people who make Canada thrive.

Every day, working people in our communities get up, go to work, and do the jobs that keep our economy and our communities moving. It is the workers who take care of our children, our seniors, and our infirm. They work in schools, hospitals, industries, manufacturing, offices, stores, roads, and outdoors. They provide us with the everyday services and products we have come to depend on and use with barely a thought. Workers are the backbone of Canada, and they deserve a second thought, if not a first one.

We need to give our workers our recognition and attention. When workers have fair wages, safe workplaces, decent benefits, and a meaningful voice on the job, our communities thrive, and families and individuals feel more secure and safe. This builds a stronger and smarter Canada.

That is why Labour Day isn’t simply about celebrating what workers have accomplished in the past. It is about protecting what workers have fought to achieve, and about building something better for the next generation.

Currently, working families face enormous challenges in today’s economy. The increasing cost of housing, food, transportation, utilities, and everyday necessities continues to put pressure on household budgets, budgets that are not increasing. Workers are being asked to do more, all while being told to accept less: less pay, less benefits, less safety, less help.

Workers are often told they are asking for too much. Workers are told businesses can’t afford higher wages because there isn’t enough money, nor can they hire more workers or make new jobs. Governments say public services such as healthcare and education need to be cut. Workers are accused of not being flexible and are vilified for asking to be treated fairly and with respect. But somehow there is always enough money for corporate tax breaks, executive compensation, and projects that seem to benefit everyone except the people who do the work. They don’t get vilified or ridiculed, but the workers do.

Let’s be clear: workers are not the problem. Workers did not create the affordability crisis. Workers did not cause housing prices to skyrocket. Workers didn’t make our children’s education a nuisance. Workers did not decide that essential services should be understaffed. Workers did not cause our healthcare to be a luxury.  Workers did not choose unstable employment. But it is the workers who are being asked to pay the price every day- hard-working people.

We need to fight for a future where young people can find employment with fair wages while being able to afford to live in their communities. We need to fight for a future where healthcare workers don’t get burned out, and teachers don’t get overwhelmed. We need to fight for people to continue working with fair wages and safe environments that match today’s cost of living.

A future where all workers can earn enough to support their families and be able to save a little extra, whether that’s for a new baby, a house, a vacation, a renovation, retirement, or some other special wants or needs. We need a future where workers have a voice, not just in the workplace but in the decisions that shape the future of their communities.

On this Labour Day, let the message be clear

To the governments and politicians: Start listening to the people

To the employers: Respect and appreciate the people who make your business possible.

To those who wish to weaken workers’ rights: We will organize. We will stand together. We will fight back.

To the workers who may feel their voices don’t matter: You are not alone. When you stand up for your rights, it leads to others standing with you.

When we stand together, we have the power to change things. Stronger public services, fairer wages, stronger pensions and benefits, better collective bargaining and the right to organize.

We workers stand together for our jobs, our rights, our families and our communities. We stand for a better future.

Solidarity Forever!