My speech from the 2024 Lethbridge Labour Day Rally

Hey, fellow workers.

About two years ago, our then 13-year-old came home from school and asked me, “What class are we?” I wasn’t sure what they were referring to, so I asked them what they meant. They clarified by saying, “You know, like, lower class, middle class, upper class . . .” I responded, “Ah, well, we’re working class”. I then went on to tell them that there are only two classes—the owning class and the working class—and that the owning class made up the terms “lower class”, “middle class”, and “upper class” to pit workers against each other and erode class solidarity.

Labour Day itself was created as a way to undermine worker solidarity, being chosen to avoid workers identifying with May Day, as many other countries had done, which was seen as too radical and too tied to the anarchist and socialist segments of the working class.

The owning class does everything they can to keep us divided because they know if we focus on each other, we won’t focus on them. They divide us based on skin colour so we don’t see they are lobbying governments to take away our rights. They divide us based on gender so we don’t see them robbing us of our wages to boost profits. They divide us based on sexual orientation so we don’t see them turning full-time jobs into multiple part-time jobs. They divide us based on ability so we don’t see them holding back wages while inflation keeps increasing. They divide us based on ethnicity so we don’t see them exploiting cheap labour to avoid paying us properly. They divide us because they know if we’re united, we have all the power.

My struggle isn’t just my struggle. Your struggle isn’t just your struggle. Public sector worker struggle isn’t just a public sector worker struggle. Private sector worker struggle isn’t just a private sector worker struggle. White collar worker struggle isn’t just a white collar worker struggle. Blue collar worker struggle isn’t just a blue collar worker struggle. Service worker struggle isn’t just a service worker struggle. Our struggle is a shared struggle. It is a class struggle.

When I stood with striking postal workers in 2018, it wasn’t because I was a postal worker; it was because their struggle is a class struggle. When I stood with picketing University of Lethbridge support workers in 2019, it wasn’t because I was a university support worker; it was because their struggle is a class struggle. When I participated in the wildcat strike in front of Chinook Regional Hospital in 2020, it wasn’t because I was a hospital worker; it was because their struggle is a class struggle. When I stood with picketing Lethbridge nurses in 2021, it wasn’t because I was a nurse; it was because their struggle is a class struggle. When I joined the University of Lethbridge Faculty Association strike in downtown Lethbridge in 2022, it wasn’t because I was a professor at the U of L, it was because their struggle is a class struggle. When I joined the picket line of striking PSAC workers last year, it wasn’t because I was a federal government worker; it was because their struggle is a class struggle. When I stood on the picket line of rail workers last month in the industrial park, it wasn’t because I was a rail worker; it was because their struggle is a class struggle.

Improving the material conditions of the working class will only come from workers standing together in solidarity and demanding it.

We didn’t get the 40-hour work week because one local of one union negotiated it into their collective agreement; we got it after hundreds of thousands of workers went on strike in May 1886 and demanded it.

We don’t have collective bargaining because one group of workers asked their employer nicely; we got it because tens of thousands of workers went on strike in Winnipeg in May 1919 and demanded it.

We didn’t get employment insurance because the government decided to be generous and give it to us one day. It was because thousands of workers boarded boxcars in June 1935 to travel to Ottawa and demand it.

It’s time for workers of all ethnicities to come together in solidarity. It’s time for workers of all genders and all sexualities to come together in solidarity. It’s time for workers of all ability levels to come together in solidarity. It’s time for public sector workers and private sector workers to come together in solidarity. It’s time for white collar workers and blue collar workers to come together in solidarity. It’s time for right-wing workers and left-wing workers to come together in solidarity.

In solidarity, we have power. In solidarity, we get what’s ours. In solidarity, we win.

Solidarity.