Labour Day lost the plot and most Canadians just don’t care

Labour Day reminds us how far organized labour has drifted from its roots

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This column was written on Labour Day. Sitting outside on my deck on a magnificent afternoon with a bit of sun, a touch of breeze and blissful silence in the neighbourhood, I decided to analyze what this holiday once meant—and currently means.

The origins of Labour Day in Canada likely began during the Nine-Hour Movement that occurred between January and June of 1872. This was the push toward a nine-hour workday in Canada. It started in Hamilton, Ont., and eventually progressed to Toronto, Montreal, Halifax and beyond. Although the movement was unsuccessful, it led to the founding of the Canadian Labor Union as well as the first labour-oriented newspaper, the Ontario Workman.

It’s worth mentioning that one of the Ontario Workman’s co-founders, J.S. Williams, was a political ally of Sir John A. Macdonald. Our country’s first prime minister ensured that funds were raised for this publication and that a connection between Conservatives and confident labour leaders was maintained.

Here’s another interesting connection. Sir John Thompson, one of Canada’s earliest prime ministers and also a Conservative, introduced legislation in July 1894 to recognize Labour Day as a statutory public holiday. (For the sake of posterity, it was first recommended in the Report of the Royal Commission on Relations of Labor and Capital in Canada in 1889.) As The Canadian Encyclopedia noted, this occurred after labour organizations based in B.C., Manitoba, New Brunswick, Ontario and Quebec—along with the Knights of Labor and several labour councils—had “petitioned parliamentarians” and used lobbying methods based on “similar initiatives from American unions.”

Thompson’s involvement was very much in line with his political philosophy and policies. “A stern sense of justice was one of the deepest traits in his character,” author and historian John Castell Hopkins wrote in Life & Work of the Right Hon. Sir John Thompson (1895). He believed that “justice must be done, whether it affected wealthy contractors and Conservatives … or the humblest clerk in a minor department of the Government.” Protecting the rights of Canada’s labour movement and giving them a holiday of their own was clearly part of Thompson’s personal DNA.

Canada’s first Labour Day was held on Sept. 3, 1894. “By choosing early September,” Dalton Campbell wrote in the Library and Archives Canada Blog, “the Canadian government chose a date for a national holiday that would bridge the gap between July 1 (now Canada Day) and Thanksgiving, fit into the rhythm of the seasons (when summer turns to autumn) and avoid any associations with the overtly political May Day.” There were celebrations, parades, large crowds and a national day of rest in our country.

That was then, and this is now.

Labour Day in modern Canada is quite different. While labour unions still celebrate this statutory public holiday in a similar fashion, the vast majority of our population doesn’t. Individuals and families take the day off, but it often involves preparation related to the end of summer, beginning of the school year and the like. It’s not a nationwide celebration of workers and unions, by any stretch of the imagination.

Then again, that’s not surprising. Modern unions and their leaders aren’t held in nearly the same esteem as some of their predecessors were. Ties with Conservative parties and politicians—other than rare examples like Ontario Premier Doug Ford—have been strained for decades. Relations are decent at times with the Liberal Party, but not always. The historical connection with the NDP hasn’t been nearly as close since the April 2006 break with the Canadian Auto Workers (now part of Unifor) under the late Buzz Hargrove’s leadership.

Some labour unions and workers haven’t exactly showered themselves with glory during innumerable strikes and protests, either.

Many Canadians were fed up with last year’s Canada Post strike. The Angus Reid Institute’s June 2–8 poll of 4,067 respondents suggested they’re now “open to changes in the way the institution operates.” It’s also a safe assumption that they wouldn’t put up with an additional walkout that could have occurred last month when unionized postal workers rejected the latest offer from management.

The short, four-day strike involving Air Canada flight attendants, represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees, also left a bad taste in many mouths. It’s led to calls that Ottawa needs to adjust its strategy when it comes to intervention and preventing work stoppages. This walkout left people stranded for several days or longer. The federal Liberals will be getting an earful from unions and average Canadians alike if there’s a repeat performance.

These are some of the labours of Labour Day. Views have changed, perceptions are different-but we’ll still enjoy a day of rest and relaxation across the Great White North.

Michael Taube is a political commentator, Troy Media syndicated columnist and former speechwriter for Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He holds a master’s degree in comparative politics from the London School of Economics, lending academic rigour to his political insights.