My name is Henry Smith, and I want to tell you the story of how unions began, and why workers in Canada joined. We need to travel back to medieval Europe, where most people were peasants cultivating land controlled by feudal lords. In England, as early as the 1500s, the lords began to fence off … Read more How unions began and why workers in Canada joined
My name is Wasyl Eleniak, and I have a story to tell you, about industrial unions, and workers in Canada for almost one hundred years since Confederation. Our lives were forever transformed by factories, which grew and spread because the railway linked distant communities and opened markets. At first, craft unions flourished. They resisted employers’ … Read more Industrial Unions and workers in Canada
My name is Sarah Ocampo. In my spare time, I volunteer for my union’s history and archive committee. I want to tell you about fun ways to learn history, and about why preserving and sharing your story matters. History is usually recorded from a perspective that serves the interests of wealthy, influential individuals, by recounting … Read more Fun ways to learn Labor Day history
Hi there! My name is Chantale Turgeon, and I have a story to tell you about how government employees came to think of themselves as workers and surged to the forefront of Canadian labor. In the first half of the 20th century, Parliament and provincial legislatures grudgingly supported collective bargaining between workers and private sector … Read more How government employees surged to the forefront of Canadian Labor?
I’m Sophie Kinoseew, and I want to tell you about the history of some of the most marginalized workers in Canada, and their essential struggles for fairness and inclusion. Workers have always been diverse, but many unions ignored the needs of some people, like indigenous, immigrant, women, or lesbian and gay workers. Early on, only … Read more History of the most marginalized workers in Canada