May 1 2026
This International Workers’ Day, we celebrate workers and their hard-won victories, and we renew our resolve in the fight for our rights and human dignity.
May 1st was declared international day of worker solidarity in 1889, in commemoration of the Haymarket Affair in Chicago which became a symbol of the struggle for workers’ rights.
In Canada, we can look to the legacy of the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919, when tens of thousands of workers stood together to demand fair wages, safe working conditions, and the right to collective bargaining. Though they faced repression, their courage helped lay the foundation for many of the rights we have today.
Decades later, our movement won universal public healthcare for all Canadians, employment insurance and the eight-hour workday. None of these things were handed to us and change did not come easily. They were the result of people organising, resisting, and refusing to accept injustice as inevitable. They were the victories won by working people who chose solidarity over fear and division.
I believe that today we are facing another moment that requires our courage and solidarity.
In workplaces, communities, and households across Canada and around the world, inequality is growing.
A small minority of the richest individuals and corporations is accumulating more and more wealth and converting it into more and more political and economic power. Meanwhile, ordinary people everywhere are working harder than ever, but struggling to afford housing, food, and other basic necessities, let alone a future for their children. Our governments lack the political courage and commitment to tackle these growing injustices. They fold under the pressure of powerful interests that do everything to avoid paying their fair share in taxes. Instead, our elected representatives cut and weaken the public services people count on such as healthcare, child care, public education and public safety.
These choices are eating away at the very fabric of our society.
Around the world, we are witnessing the democratic erosion, instability, and division that come from years of putting profits ahead of people.
Major decisions that affect millions of people are increasingly made behind closed doors by a handful of powerful tech corporations with little regard for the public good. And we see countries like the United States launch illegal wars with impunity.
But we also see people fighting back. That’s where I see reason for hope.
Here at home and in communities around the world, people are building solidarity to fight for economic justice and for human rights.
At NUPGE, we’re proud to be part of those efforts in Canada and internationally.
We also have a campaign to defend and strengthen public services – you can join us here at www.voicesforpublicgood.ca
As working people, we have faced challenging times before, and through solidarity, we have brought about real change.
That is our inheritance, and it’s the enduring lesson of May Day.
We stand up in solidarity with one another and we demand dignity for all.
We fight for economic justice and for workers to have a voice in the decisions that impact our lives.
We push our governments to put people before profits, take a stand against illegal wars and speak up for human rights everywhere.
Happy International Workers’ Day.
Bert Blundon
President, National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE)