Elbows Up is often said, but it is so true this 2025 Labour Day. Protecting Canadian Jobs is one of the pillars that unions and the overall labour movement have stood on since the idea of banding together collectively for the greater good was first considered at various small meetings around places like kitchen tables and quiet backrooms.
In 2025, with jobs at greater risk from external folly such as attacks on Canadian sovereignty and unjust tariffs along with vast global instability, the call to protect Canadian jobs has never been more acute and more relevant. So, elbows up!
“Canadians are indeed joining together to stand up for our sovereignty and our jobs and this is indeed worth celebrating on this Labour Day. Unions and the labour movement are at the leading edge of this charge and, like they always have been, will make the case for every worker and in their success raise the standard of living for all workers,” says Labour Council President, Kevin Smith.
A second pillar of the labour movement has always been the health and safety of workers. Protecting jobs in this volatile world is indeed a challenge, but no less of a challenge is the need to ensure that workplaces will not adversely effect the health and safety of workers. Both in Grey Bruce region and across Ontario and Canada workers have succumbed to injury from their workplaces and have been made ill through exposures in their workplaces.
Does the sentiment of “elbows up” apply to health and safety of workers? “It sure does,” says Labour Council VP for Grey County, Chris Stephen. “Coming under attack from the United States, as has been the situation for the last several months, will generate demands from our former ally to lower standards and regulations. But rest assured that these demands will seek a lowering of labour standards such as health and safety.”
Celebrating the leadership that organized labour exhibits day to day, is a big part of Labour Day and the international stage is very much in the spotlight. “We must not forget domestic threats such as Doug Ford’s bill 5,” says Labour Council President Kevin Smith. “This bill will actually undermine Indigenous rights and will establish islands for so called development that will permit the suspension of labour rights such as health and safety. Indeed our fight will be at home and against traditional foes.
“This Labour Day is a good reminder that our work is far from done at home,” says Labour Council Secretary Amy Stephen.
With a vast array of unions and leadership from UNIFOR and the UNIFOR Retired Workers and the community, September 1st will be a day of labour celebration.
For more information about the parade and associated activities or to volunteer to assist with the parade, contact any member of the Grey-Bruce Labour Council at gblcpresident@live.ca. Volunteer activities may include setting up floats, directing traffic, parade marshalling, and other activities normally associated with any parade and celebration.
All community and union members are encouraged to watch the parade, participate in the parade with their friends and family, to assist with parade/float preparations or volunteer for other duties. Parade participants and volunteers should arrive at the Home Hardware/Shoreline Baptist Church, north end of Port Elgin on Hwy. 21 (Goderich Street) no later than 10:30 a.m. on September 1st.
The parade will proceed along Goderich Street at 11:00 a.m. To alleviate congestion, some floats and participants will join the parade just north or south of the Home Hardware/Shoreline Baptist Church and Parade marshals will be on hand to provide direction. UNIFOR floats will marshal at the Home Hardware while all others will marshal behind the Shoreline Baptist Church (some overflow from the church may end up in the Home Hardware lot).
The parade will finish at Maple Square Mall. Upon completion of the parade everyone is welcome to make their way to the UNIFOR Family Education Centre at 115 Shipley Avenue, Port Elgin where there is adequate parking for vehicles. In addition, a clearly marked bus service, operating at regular intervals, will bring participants back and forth to the UNIFOR Family Education Centre, where the celebration will continue after the parade with a free lunch, prize draws and speeches from local labour leaders and activists.
In addition to the events outlined above for Labour Day, a membership appreciation event is also being held adjacent to the main parking lot at the UNIFOR Family Education Centre. This is being hosted by the Power Workers’ Union (PWU) and starts at 2:00 p.m. on Labour Day and, again, everyone is welcome.
The Grey Bruce Labour Council has been the voice of workers in Grey and Bruce Counties since 1956. The unions affiliated with the Labour Council, the UNIFOR Retirees, UNIFOR, the community, all workers and sponsors and volunteers, including those graciously donating money, materials and space (such as union friends and affiliates, Home Hardware, Shoreline Baptist Church, Maple Square, Saugeen Shores and many more), invite everyone to Port Elgin on September 1st for one of the biggest Labour Day parades in Canada.
In these challenging times, everyone is encouraged to join with fellow community union members, retirees and family members in Port Elgin’s Labour Day celebration and help make this year’s Labour Day Parade the best ever.
