Workers' rights celebrated in the annual Labour Day Parade

Hundreds of union and labour workers marched through downtown Ottawa Monday for the annual Labour Day parade, a celebration of workers’ rights.

“We’re here to show solidarity,” says Diane Girouard, regional treasurer for the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC). “To show that, even through COVID, we had a presence, we served our country, we did it with pride. We worked hard, long hours.”

This event brought dozens of labour unions throughout the city together to support each other in what has been a difficult few years.

“I think it’s important every year to come out to the Labour Day parade to support labour,” says Clint Crabtree, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 279 president. “As a union, that’s what we do, we support our members. And this is the day for everybody who’s involved with the labour movement to get out and show their support.”

Sean McKenny is the president of the Ottawa and District Labour Council. He also heavily involved in organizing the parade.

“The city of Ottawa goes on record as being one of the oldest Labour Day parades in the country,” says McKenny, “dating back to 1872. So we’ve been doing this a long time.”

And although this is a day of celebration, some of these workers say there is still a lot of work to be done. For PSAC, it’s the option to work from home.

“We’re fighting for language in the collective agreement that provides workers with that flexibility,” says Alex Silas, PSAC National Capital Regional Executive VP. “If you can do the job from home, or you can do it from the office, you should have the option to do it either way.”

Federal government worker Chantal Fortin was also at the parade, representing PSAC. She says for some government employees, working from home can be more productive than working at the office.

“Working from home has worked great for the majority of us over the past two years,” says Fortin. “We’ve shown that we do good work working from home. Sometimes we’re even more productive working from home. So please, let us have that choice.”

Some are still feeling the effects of the pandemic, with working conditions always top of mind.

“This is a very timely occasion to say out loud, respect your workers,” says Marc Briere, National President of the Union of Taxation Employees. “And then work with your workers and make their working conditions better, their life better.”

Due to COVID-19, the annual Labour Day picnic was cancelled for the third straight year.