The local labour community is recognizing Labour Day early with a drive-in movie night.
President of the Thunder Bay and District Labour Council, Carlos Santander-Maturana, explains they didn’t feel it was safe to hold their usual Labour Day Picnic, but still wanted to recognize the contributions of workers.
Santander-Maturana feels it’s important to honour their memory, especially during the pandemic.
“We have to realize that workers, in particular precarious workers, were the ones who were really pulling us [through] during the pandemic,” he says. “They made a mass sacrifice, sometimes at the cost of their own lives and the welfare of their families.”
The organization is screening two movies at Boomer’s Drive-In in Murillo tonight starting at 8:30.
First, they are showing the musical Stand!, a fictionalised account of the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike, followed by “Under the Red Star.”
The 2011 film is by local filmmaker Kelly Saxburg, and deals with issues in the Finnish community in Thunder Bay during the 1920s, and the deaths of two organizers of lumber camps.
The Labour Council is sponsoring the tickets, but attendees still need to register online ahead of time.
While you won’t have to pay for your ticket, Santander-Maturana says you can instead make a donation in-person at the event to support local youth programs.
