'Heightened importance': Labour Day rally more meaningful after summer of strikes

Manitoba's unionized workers rallied together in downtown Winnipeg Monday afternoon to celebrate Labour Day.

It was the annual Labour Day Rally hosted by the Winnipeg Labour Council. Hundreds of union members from various labour organizations marched from Memorial Park down Broadway towards The Forks, finishing up at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

Manitoba Teachers Society president Nathan Martindale said this year's march had more meaning after recent strikes in the province.

"We had the 'summer of strikes' or summer of solidarity of course with some of the MGEU units going on strike, and all the Manitoba Federation of Labour affiliates coming out to support them," said Martindale. "It has a heightened importance this year."

Manitoba has had a busy year for unionized job actions. Close to 1,700 Manitoba Public Insurance workers are currently on strike for higher wages, crippling the public insurance provider's services for more than a week.

Last month, some 1,400 Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries (MLCC) employees finally got back to work after nearly six weeks of picketing. At one point during the strike, the MLCC ended up shutting down nearly all Manitoba Liquor Mart locations across the province.

In July, unionized employees of Teranet Manitoba who work in the provincial land titles office began escalating strike actions in an effort to get a new contract signed.

And in the spring, many Manitobans took part in a federal strike involving 155,000 government employees across Canada.

Add to that high profile national and international job actions making the news such as B.C.'s port workers strike, and the Hollywood writers and actors strike in the U.S., Martindale says the sense of solidarity and togetherness has never been stronger.

"They are engaged in their union, they understand the importance of unionism, and they're here to support the work of unions in general," he said.