For Immediate Release
September 4, 2023
“Labour Day is a special holiday.
For many, it marks the end of the Summer season. For young people and workers in education, it’s the start of the new year.
To each and every one of us it is a day to celebrate workers and the contribution labour makes to our everyday lives. The rights and freedoms of workers like safer workplace conditions, the eight hour work day, and 2SLGBTQIA+ rights, weren’t given to us - they were fought for and won by workers in the labour movement.
Workers are celebrated today to remember that the clothes we wear, the food in our grocery stores, the energy that powers our homes, the care we receive in hospitals, and the education our future generations receive is only possible because of workers.
In a world with ever-increasing inequality, a persisting gender wage gap, hard working families struggling to make ends meet, and young people unsure if they will ever own a home, workers must stand together.
In a few decades we’ve gone from an economy where working full time in retail meant a roof over a family’s head and fresh food on the table. Now the checkout clerk at the grocery store works multiple jobs and still struggles to put healthy food on the table, or their job is replaced by a self-checkout and grocery prices continue to get more expensive.
People are struggling. It doesn’t have to be like this. Workers deserve better for the value they bring to our world.
Today reminds all workers that they have power, and that when they come together in solidarity, long-lasting change happens and we raise everyone up.
The NDP stands with workers and will continue to fight for pay equity, workplace safety, anti-scab legislation and fair wages.”
NDP Leader Jim Dinn will be attending the Labour Day Family BBQ organized by the St. John’s and District Labour Council. The event starts with a march at 11:30am from Dominion on Lake Ave. and continues to the Legion in Pleasantville.
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For further information, contact Eddy St. Coeur, Director of Communications, NDP Caucus at 729-2137 (o), or eddystcoeur@gov.nl.ca