In the past, May Day was largely ignored by the labour movement’s calendar in English-speaking Canada. However, this year was different, particularly in Hamilton, ON; United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1005 hosted a major May Day rally that attracted between 1,000-1,500 trade unionists from all across Ontario. The fact that the tradition of May Day has been resurrected for the Ontario labour movement is indicative of a growing militancy of the organized working-class in this part of Canada.
The growing number of industrial battles over the past few years all point to a re-awakening of the Ontario labour movement after the defeat of the Days of Action in the mid-1990s. The speeches delivered by various labour leaders underline this point. “This is what capitalist ‘globalization’ looks like,” USW 1005 Vice-President Gary Howe told the crowd, “We’re the ones the produce the wealth, we should have a say in running this country.”
There was a large delegation of miners from Sudbury present. They are employed by mining giant Vale-Inco and have been on strike for over ten months now. Their strike has become a rallying point for workers in the province. “They [Inco] want a piece of them,” Howe said, referring to the Sudbury workers, “Well they’re going to get a piece of us, too!”
Ontario Federation of Labour President Sid Ryan said, “After making more than $4-billion in a two-year period, they [Inco] turned to the workers that made them those profits and said ‘your pensions are too rich.’”
Ryan told the crowd that workers have not only a right, but a duty, to fight for better condition for all workers because it will be the generation of young workers who are now entering the work force that will pay the price. “We are standing on the shoulders of the previous generations of trade unionists who fought the great battles of the past. We cannot let down our children now!”
He concluded his speech by calling for unity between the public and private sector unions, saying, “It is the industrial workers that create the wealth and the public sector who runs the services that we need to make this a decent society to live in. Both areas create vital jobs for our communities. We have to unite and fight for each other!”
The most radical speech came from the president of the Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers union (CEP), Dave Coles. Coles said, “Why is this happening? It is a fundamental failure of the system. The capitalist system does not work for us!”
Coles called for the labour movement to not only engage more heavily on the political stage, but to “do politics differently.” “We must fundamentally change the system. They make the rules of the game, so we have to break the rules! If they try and shut down our plant, then we occupy that plant,” Coles said to a standing ovation.
The rank-and-file of the unions present expressed even more radical sentiment, “Take ‘em over. Take them away from these corporations and we’ll run them. We’ll run them better, too,” said Derek, a Sudbury miner, referring to the Vale-Inco mines.
“The problem is that the government isn’t just on the side of these guys,” said one Hamilton worker, “The government is pretty much just one more branch of the board of directors. How about we get a government that is for the people.”
From Canada to Greece, the corporate media present workers as “greedy” if they dare fight against cuts and attacks by the bosses. The media says that we don’t understand that “everyone” must take a cut for the sake of stability. This rings hollow in the ears of workers, who know very well the amount of profit the bosses make off of our labour.
For a long time, we have said that the workers’ movement in the advanced capitalist countries is moving in a militant and radical direction in response to the attacks on our standards of living by the bosses and their system. The bosses are no longer willing to give concessions to the working class. Sooner or later, this militancy will have its reflection within the workers’ traditional mass organizations, the unions and the NDP.
During this epic crisis of capitalism, Marxist ideas are dearly needed within the labour movement and therefore, it is no surprise that our ideas are being so well received. Increasingly, workers are realizing the necessity for fundamental change in the system. The ideas of Marxism in the mass organizations of the workers, the NDP and the unions, can provide the solution to this crisis and end the injustice of capitalism once and for all.
