Monday September 1, 2025 | VICTORIA, BC
Editorial analysis by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Today is Labour Day, a statutory holiday across Canada.
In BC, Premier David Eby opened his Labour Day remarks with articulating a list of employment sectors:
“Working people power the success of our province: farm workers, flight attendants, retail workers, clerks, custodians, truckers, teacher’s aides, first responders and so many others. In British Columbia, people are the economy,” said Eby in a statement today.
Recent achievements for workers were highlighted in the Premier and Labour Minister’s statement today, including the continuing increase in minimum wage (over the past several years) and eliminating the need for workers to get sick notes for short-term absences from work.
“”That builds on our collective achievements, which include protecting workers with paid sick leave, returning thousands of health-services workers to the public system, and cutting child care bills by half or more for many working parents,” said Eby and Labour Minister Jennifer Whiteside in their statement today.
“That builds on our collective achievements, which include protecting workers with paid sick leave, returning thousands of health-services workers to the public system, and cutting child care bills by half or more for many working parents,” said Minister Whiteside.
“In partnership with the labour movement, we introduced up to five days of paid leave per year for workers facing domestic or sexual violence and brought in pay transparency legislation to help close the gender pay gap. We made it mandatory for employers at construction sites with 25 workers or more to provide flush toilets, hand-washing facilities and clean washrooms, and we provided basic protections and minimum-wage measures for app-based ride-hailing and delivery workers.”
“Democracies are built by the strength of workers. We give thanks to the working people of B.C. for their dedication to making our province a better and more prosperous place to live and work,” it was stated by the Province today.
About the day:
Labour Day is generally about work that is associated with the corporate economic system in a relatively adversarial relationship, i.e. owner/boss vs worker. It doesn’t seem to encapsulate many forms of new economic realities of the work world such as working from home (as a standard form of employment), or income inequalities let alone the human side of being a working person.
He included a reminder that organized labour fought for – and won – many of the employment rights enjoyed by many (but equally not yet all) workers today such as maternity and parental leave, overtime pay and workplace safety standards.
NDP approach:
Canada’s NDP says the federal government should be “investing in strong public services and in the workers who deliver them”
The NDP sees the Labour relationship as more than the workplace and pay cheque.
“It includes building more of what we need here – from affordable homes to community infrastructure – and creating good-paying union jobs in the process. And it means tackling the cost-of-living crisis, including by expanding pharmacare to more provinces so that more Canadians can benefit,” says NDP Leader Don Davies in a statement today.
“On Labour Day we are especially reminding workers that Liberal and Conservative governments have consistently violated their Charter rights by interfering in the collective bargaining process. New Democrats will always stand up for full freedom of association, strong unions and free collective bargaining,” says Davies.
“Unions built this country. New Democrats know that a strong labour movement means strong communities and a strong economy,” the NDP leader said today.
Carney’s comment:
The statement from Prime Minister Mark Carney today on Labour Day may show some interest or expectation of workers as a key part of building the strength of this country.
“Canada’s unions have long stood on the principle that what we wish for ourselves, we wish for all, demanding fairness and dignity for workers,” said Carney in a statement from his office today.
“The foundations of shared prosperity and a fairer economy that benefits everyone – including minimum wages, weekends, safe workplaces, and workers’ benefits – were built and fought for by unions,” the prime minister stated.
“In a rapidly shifting global landscape, Canada’s new government is working with unions to ensure workers have the skills, support, and opportunities they need to succeed. We are building Canada strong, and workers are at the heart of this mission. Together with organized labour, Canada’s new government is focused on creating not only jobs, but high-paying careers with sustained opportunity and prosperity.”
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NEWS SECTIONS: CANADA-NATIONAL | JOBS & EMPLOYMENT | LABOUR DAY