Editorials
August 28, 2008 11:58 PM
For most people in our community, Labour Day is quite simply the
end-of-summer long weekend, a signal it is time to rush around and pick
up any forgotten back-to-school items and leave the lazy, hazy days of
summer behind. The day is related to labour only in that it signals it
is time to refocus our energies on our work, whether that be in a job
or at school.
Even
though the original connection between the holiday and organized labour
has faded in our minds, Labour Day is still a good time to take a
moment or two and reflect on this celebration of the “working class”
and its contributions to society.
Feisty battles by organized
labour have given us much of what we take for granted today: the
five-day work week, minimum wage and good salaries, unemployment
insurance and safe workplaces.
With these landmark successes
already well-entrenched, now it is more a case of negotiating
individual contracts and starting salaries.
But Labour Day is a
great opportunity to honour the union movement, recognize what it
stands for and what it has helped accomplish for all workers in our
communities and beyond.
While we do this, it is also important
to note that for many hard-working men and women across our country,
and right here at home, things are still far from ideal.
That’s
not to say that unions are the answer to every problem in our complex
world of work in the 21st century, but too many of our neighbours are
still barely making a living in affluent York Region.
There are
still too many people in dead-end jobs with no job security; too many
older workers who are unemployed; and too many single parents whose
opportunities are limited because they can’t afford daycare.
Many
manufacturing jobs have been lost in Ontario, including right here in
York Region. Many of these were the type of high paying jobs that allow
people to assume mortgages or raise families. Working at the coffee
shop or in the large retail outlet can never replace these lost
incomes. Moving to Western Canada, where the jobs tend to be, may bring
relief to young workers or people who have recently become unemployed,
but is also a loss for our province.
So, as we load up the car
to take off to the cottage or stock up the refrigerator with the
fixings for a long weekend, these underlying realities are worth
consideration, too.