Labour Day Picnic

If you are looking for something to do to celebrate the last long weekend of the summer the Barrie and District Labour Council is holding it’s annual Labour Day Picnic. About 1-thousand people are expected to attend the free event being held at Sunningdale Park between 11 and 2.

A Labour of Love A Labour Day message from the Barrie and District Labour Council
For Canada’s unions, Labour Day is our time to celebrate our work and the everyday victories we win to make life better for everyone. This year, there is much to celebrate. For nearly a decade, we advocated for stronger public pensions. Now the federal government and Canada’s premiers have finally agreed that it is time to expand the Canada Pension Plan. While today’s seniors still need help to avoid falling into poverty, it is young workers who will benefit most from this change. Already faced with a hostile jobs market and record levels of debt, today’s young workers needed a new way to save for retirement. After a lifetime of work, no one should have to struggle just to make ends meet. For Canada’s unions, making life better for working people is, to put it simply, a labour of love. Values like fairness, equality and working together are what drive us to make a difference. Federal and provincial governments need to restore the conditions required to grow and sustain good jobs. Increasing the minimum wage is a starting point. Paid sick days is another, so nobody has to choose between their health and their job. Good jobs offer the better futures that people want for themselves and their families. It’s fair and simple to request, but it’s yet another uphill struggle that Canada’s unions are ready to help push forward. The same can be said for unions’ call on the federal government to formally and finally ban asbestos. In Canada, 2,000 people die each year from diseases caused by asbestos exposure. It is the leading cause of workplace-related death. Yet, imports of asbestos products, from construction materials to brake pads, are on the rise and buildings contaminated with asbestos remain unregistered, keeping the people who use them and work in them at risk. A comprehensive ban will save lives and prevent the pain, suffering and heartache endured by too many today. Good jobs, safe workplaces, fairness and equality are the basic ingredients of a better future. For us, it truly is a labour of love and it’s what motivates us to march in the streets and celebrate in the parks, playgrounds and community spaces across Canada this weekend.

Happy Labour Day from the Barrie and District Labour Council