Workers, community activists sound the alarm on May Day

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It’s a date to celebrate working people, but also a distress call, and those gathered at Memorial Park Sunday were doing both: honoring those who drive the economy with their labor while sounding the alarm about attacks on their media. of life and dignity.

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“May Day has many meanings,” said Allan Walsh, a jazz musician and former Laurentian University professor. “It’s an old festival that marks the beginning of summer and it’s also about commemorating the labor movement. But there is another meaning: the word mayday indicates a life-threatening emergency.”

Walsh said he and many others lost income and their role in the community when Laurentian University cut dozens of programs last year, including music.

“I’m part of the tricultural committee and we say ‘mayday, mayday, mayday’: Laurentian University is going under,” he said. “But it’s not just Laurentian…high school music and art programs are at risk due to provincial government cutbacks.”

Nearly 100 people attended the May Day event, which was organized by the Sudbury District Labor Council and featured representatives from numerous unions, but also members of community organizations and some not affiliated with any particular group but they simply wanted to show their support. for workers and those struggling to get ahead.

A CUPE local supplied a stack of pizzas that was shared with the protesters, as well as anyone passing through Memorial Park, including many members of the homeless community and others struggling to make ends meet.

“Let’s remember what it means to be poor,” said Laurie McGauley, president of the Housing and Poverty Advocacy Coalition. “It means not being sure you can pay your rent next month; it means the terror of not knowing if we can feed our children or buy them the shoes they need.”

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McGauley said PHAC advocates for the homeless, but even those with jobs and a roof over their heads can “understand, on a basic level, the terror of poverty and homelessness…the truth is that most of people with jobs are two paychecks away from not being able to pay their bills, their rent or their mortgage.”

The homeless advocate laid out a set of seven demands her group is taking to all parties in the upcoming provincial election, including increased rates for Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program, strong control of rents, more support for those transitioning out of prison and adopt and decriminalize all drugs and sex work.

Scott Florence, director of the Sudbury Worker Education and Advocacy Center, said paying people a fair wage is critical not only to their ability to lead a decent life, but also to sustaining the economy as a whole.

“Many of you here are from unions and have strong negotiated agreements, but most workers don’t have the same type of protection,” he said. “We need a higher minimum wage, because the best way to put money back into the economy is to give it to the people who will spend it. Corporate tax cuts don’t end up in spending in our economy, they go to offshore accounts. The workers, when they have money in their pocket, they spend it locally”.

Florence also called for paid sick days, “which the current government has resisted and resisted,” and equal pay for equal work. “I am not just referring to men and women, or those of different colors, who are paid the same, but also full-time and part-time workers who are paid exactly the same amount for the same job. type of job”.

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Those who work hard in a world powered by food delivery apps and private transportation also deserve fairer treatment, Florence said.

“Unfortunately, our current government has just enacted legislation that misclassifies temporary workers and provides them with less protection than actual workers,” he said. “The Ministry of Labor and the courts have said, yes, you deserve the minimum wage and all the protections of the Labor Standards Act, but instead of giving it to the workers, the government has created a second system so that they have less” .

A worker at Skip The Dishes in Sudbury cited a famous civil rights activist for inspiration when speaking about a one-day strike he recently helped organize to ensure drivers were fairly compensated.

“A couple of weeks ago, due to rising fuel prices, profits were shrinking, so we decided to speak out,” said Karanbir Badesha. “Martin Luther King once said: ‘The measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in moments of challenge and controversy.’ ”

Badesha said he and his Skip colleagues are not unionized, but were able to “come together as a group of people” and successfully fight for their rights. “That was the power of one voice. I firmly believe that one of the biggest things that stops a person in life is their inability to fully believe in themselves, so my message to you is never, ever give up your rights. We need a fair system that works for everyone.”

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Jessica Montgomery, president of the labor council, noted that this year’s version of International Workers’ Day fell days after the injunction was withdrawn in Ontario, “so we’re coming together to make sure our problems, the problems we most they mean to workers and their families, they are front and center in the June 2 election.”

He said the province needs to implement a $20 minimum wage and repeal House Bill 124, which limits wage increases for public sector workers, as well as provide “housing for all members of our community, permanent paid sick days, well-funded public services and a living income for all.”

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