The labour community is dedicating this Labour Day to the efforts and sacrifices of workers over the past 18 months.
Thunder Bay and District Labour Council President Carlos Santander-Maturana says workers, especially precarious workers, have gotten us through the pandemic so far.
Those are people whose jobs are insecure, poorly paid or unprotected.
“They made a mass sacrifice, sometimes at the cost of their own lives and the welfare of their families,” he says.
Santander-Maturana emphasizes that, pandemic or not, workers are crucial.
“Without working people, nothing will move. It doesn’t matter how much money you put into an enterprise, if there’s no people willing to do the work, then nothing is going to happen,” he points out.
The council is not holding its Labour Day Picnic this year due to COVID-19 concerns, replacing it with a drive-in double-feature movie night Sunday. It also presented OPSEU Region 7 Vice President Ed Arvelin with the Labour Person of the Year Award.
It has booked Current River Park to bring the picnic back for 2022.
