By Kiri Vadivelu on September 6, 2025
Tens of thousands of union members walked in the 2025 Toronto Labour Day parade, from the intersection of University Avenue and Queen Street all the way to the entrance of the Canadian National Exhibition. Every occupation and craft, every public service and most major private sector industries were represented by unions in the field.
Toronto and York Region Labour Council called for a united front against attacks on workers’ rights.
The theme for the annual event was “A Canada for Workers: Made Here, Paid Here.”
Labour leaders pointed to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and Prime Minster Mark Carney’s government using the Canada Labour Code to end strikes, thus hurting workers’ ability to bargain for better wages.
Over the last year, the federal government used Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code multiple times to end labour disputes as wages and job security have been a major point of contention between workers and employers.
“The government has poisoned the bargaining climate and made settlements less likely, leading to more disruption and longer work stoppages,” the regional labour council said in a news release.
Most recently, the provision was used by federal jobs minister Patty Hajdu to send Air Canada employees back to work less than twelve hours after they walked off the job. Despite this action, the union that represents Air Canada workers, Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), headed back to the picket lines until a tentative agreement was reached August 19.
“Workers will win – despite the best effort of the Liberal government and their corporate friends,” said CUPE president Mark Hancock.
Section 107 was also used to end other Canada-wide labour disputes and disruptions at Canada Post, along with ports and railways.
The union that represents Canada Post workers said this effort by the federal government hurts the most vulnerable workers.
“Patty Hajdu is undermining collective bargaining of mostly women, racialized workers and workers with her use of Section 107,” said Jan Simpson, National President of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW).
Near the parade’s terminus members of the Campaign to elect Yves Engler NDP Leader distributed literature and collected the contact data of new volunteers. At the Socialist Action canopy, unionists stopped to chat with Yves and to purchase his books on display there.
SOURCE
Socialist action Canada
