Hundreds of people took to the streets in Winnipeg Monday to celebrate the gains made by labour unions.
"My union has definitely supported me in the fact that they have taught me a lot of the rights I have in the workplace, whether it's safety or the collective bargaining agreement,” said Ashley Morello, a member of the United Food and Commercial Workers.
Event organizers said although many people treat the first Monday of September as just another holiday, it’s important to realize the work of unions benefits people even if they don’t belong to one.
"A lot of the advocacy work that unions do goes outside the scope of our membership,” said Dave Sauer, President of the Winnipeg Labour Council. “Whether it's health and safety, worker's compensation, wages, employment standards, vacation, etc."
On May 15, 1919, nearly 30,000 people walked off the job to take part in the Winnipeg General Strike.
Historians call that event a pivotal moment for the Canadian labour movement.
That movement finds itself at another cross-roads 95 years later, challenged to serve a changing workforce thanks to a shift to more freelance and contract employment.
"We are actually creating a new type of union that reaches out beyond the traditional roles of unions and traditional members,” said Paul Olson, a representative for Unifor. “Reaching out to the public and community groups."
Unifor, an amalgamation of the Canadian Auto Workers union (CAW) and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP), is the largest private sector union in the country. It was formed on Labour Day 2013 with a mandate to work beyond the traditional scope of unions.
