As we gather to commemorate May Day, we reflect on the significant contributions and dedication of workers in Canada and around the world. This is a powerful celebration of workers’ rights and hard-fought battles by the labour movement, but also a time to recognize the need to continue the fight for justice, equity and safe and healthy workplaces.
Across the country, PSAC members are showing their collective strength. Academic workers are organizing and taking collective action to secure fair agreements. Gaming workers are fighting to win decent wages. And let’s not forget the firefighters, healthcare workers and other public service workers who keep us safe every day. Whether it is fishery officers safeguarding our oceans, a housing worker ensuring families have a roof over their heads or a lab technician developing cancer treatments, our work matters, and so does our rights.
As we look ahead, we must remind ourselves of the challenges that lie ahead.
The next few years will demand everything we have to protect the rights of workers, and the public services people depend on. We’re ready to work with the new elected government to protect public pensions and ensure a fair bargaining process for PSAC members. And we will continue to hold the new government accountable to ensure they strengthen public services and support the workers who deliver them.
Our strength lies in our unity. A better future for workers and families doesn’t just happen. We build it, together.
May Day is a reminder that progress has never come from waiting patiently. It comes from people coming together to say: we deserve better. And it comes from believing that dignity at work isn’t a luxury — it’s a right.
So, wherever you are and whatever work you do, this May Day we invite you to stand with the workers who are making change — not just in big ways, but in quiet, powerful acts of courage every day.
Because when we fight together, we win together. And when we honour every worker, we build a better future for all of us.
This article was first published on the PSAC website.
