In what is becoming an annual tradition for workers north of Toronto, the CCU, of which YUSA is a longtime member, has organized the fourth annual Barrie Labour Day Event for Monday, September 2, 2013.
The picnic, featuring music, food, guest speakers and fun for the kids, will take place at Sunnidale Park, and everyone’s invited. Last year, over 500 people attended, and the CCU is expecting this year’s event to be bigger than ever before.
This year, the CCU is doing something different. It’s inviting all unions and not-for-profit organizations in the region to participate.
“They are all invited to set up tables and take part in this year’s event to celebrate Labour Day,” says CCU President Joanie Cameron Pritchett. “They do so much for the community, and they deserve to be acknowledged for their enormous efforts in making Barrie a better place.”
Most importantly, the CCU and YUSA is inviting workers who aren’t yet members of unions. “Their rights and freedoms are just as important as those who belong to unions,” says Pritchett. “In fact, their struggles are even more essential, since they don’t yet enjoy the benefits of a labour union.”
This is particularly important at a time when working people, both inside and outside unions, are paying the price for a narrow-minded agenda driven by governments and corporations that care more about the bottom line than the well-being of Canadians.
“This Labour Day,” says Pritchett, “we especially salute those workers who have not yet joined a labour union, but nonetheless deserve fairness, workers’ rights and respect on the job.”
We’ll see everyone at Sunnidale Park at 11 am in Barrie on September 2nd.
