May Day: marches in Toronto and Sudbury for workers


A march also took place in Sudbury, Northern Ontario.

For paid sick leave

Gaibrie Stephen, an emergency physician who spoke to The Canadian News in Grange Park, Toronto, said the pandemic is having a big impact on healthcare workers.

A portrait of Gaibrie Stephen.

Gaibrie Stephen says healthcare workers need to have better conditions.

Photo: Radio-Canada / The Canadian News

Workers have long fought for paid sick days, we know it’s a basic measure that improves people’s healthsaid Dr. Stephen.

I’m here to talk to people about paid sick days because I know when I tell people they have to quarantine or they have to take time off because they broke their arm, [souvent ces gens risquent de] losing their jobs or even ending up on the streets.

A rally in Sudbury

On the Sudbury side, a coalition of unions, community organizations and students came together. This demanded, among other things, better wages for workers.

People hold flags in a park.

The May Day demonstration in Sudbury.

Photo: Radio-Canada / Francis Beaudry

Representatives of the Laurentian University union, dismissed professors and students are also present to demand the return of professors and an end to budget cuts.

The demonstrators present in downtown Sudbury also made demands in order to have better conditions for the cultural milieu and the artists and to favor collaborations with the Aboriginal communities.

Climate Justice

Several rallies took place in Toronto on Sunday. Among others: a joint worker protest for climate justice, a protest for justice for workers in Peel, a rally to denounce Premier Doug Ford organized by the Ontario Health Coalition, and a protest by Filipino workers.

Monieya Jess, a migrant worker from Jamaica, said she is currently unemployed after quitting her job due to poor working conditions.

Ms Jess says she joined the joint climate justice and labor protest to demand status for all.

I am a former agricultural worker. I was working on a farm and the conditions were really bad so I decided to stop working there because it’s not good for us humansshe told The Canadian News.

The task is really difficult. […] When you go to bed to sleep, you still have pain. You ask to go to the doctor, and they refuse. So I decided to leave.

Worker-centred elections

Meanwhile, hundreds of workers gathered at Queen’s Park as part of the Ontario Federation of Labor rally.

According to OTFthe action is part of a province-wide mobilization to demand a workers-first agenda, and ensure the issues that matter most to workers and their families are on the table in the June 2 provincial elections.

Today, in every region of the province, we come together to show what is possiblesaid Patty Coates, president of the OTF.

International Workers’ Day this year falls on the eve of the start of the provincial election campaign.

We make sure worker issues are on the tableMs. Coates said.

We need improvements in this province. This means a $20 hourly minimum wage, decent work, affordable housing, permanent paid sick days, well-funded public services, livable income support for all, climate justice, status for all and the end of racism and oppression.

With information from Andréane Williams, Francis Beaudry and The Canadian News



Reference-ici.radio-canada.ca

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