Commemorating the labour movement

The year was 1872.
Marchers from 27 unions took to Toronto streets, demanding the release of typographical unionists, who were sent to prison for trying to establish a nine-hour workday.
Thousands of citizens came to protest the incarcerations and support the rights of labourers to belong to unions. The protesters won.
"The world kind of changed a bit for workers on that day," said Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Saskatchewan president Tom Graham, adding shortly after the protest, Canada adopted a Trade Union Act and society slowly came to realize the benefits of organized labour.
In Canada, Labour Day is a holiday set aside to commemorate that 19th-century event and the labour movement.
Graham hopes while Saskatchewan residents enjoy leisure activities Monday, they also take a moment and remember the benefits of unions.
He said unions not only raise wages and standards of living for those they represent, but for all workers, as organized labourers serve as examples of what is generally acceptable.
"We do set the bar."
Without unions, Graham said the average Saskatchewan wage would be much lower than it is.
However, the CUPE president doesn't believe the struggle of working men and women is even close to complete.
He said there are always powerful people who want more at the expense of workers and, if unions suddenly disappeared, Graham believes conditions would quickly deteriorate.
"There's still a lot of struggle."

Carter Haydu can be reached at 691-1265.

The date of labour day
Initially, Labour Day in Canada was celebrated in the spring, but that did not last long.
After it was declared a legal holiday by the Parliament of Canada on July 23, 1894, the celebration was moved to the early fall, where it has remained ever since.