For many Canadians, Labour Day marks the unofficial end of summer. But the holiday has its roots in the labour movement — and Toronto played an important role.
In 1872, Toronto printers went on strike for a nine-hour workday, and several strike leaders were arrested and charged with criminal conspiracy. In response, thousands of workers took to the streets in support of the printers, demonstrating that their fight had the support of a much broader labour movement. That show of solidarity helped build public and political pressure for change, contributing to new legislation that year protecting trade unions from prosecution for criminal conspiracy. The movement for a workers’ holiday continued to grow, and in 1894, Labour Day became an official national holiday.
The connection with the Canadian National Exhibition came later. The Exhibition opened in 1879, and, over time, the Labour Day Parade began ending at the CNE grounds. Generations of union members have since marched through Toronto before spending the rest of the day at the Ex with family and fellow union members.
In 2018, that tradition was put to the test. Members of IATSE Local 58, who worked at Exhibition Place, were locked out by their employer. Entering the CNE at the end of the parade would have meant crossing their picket line — undermining the workers’ collective action and a fundamental principle of union solidarity. The Labour Day Parade did not enter the CNE that year. Instead, the parade, including Society members, changed its traditional route to join Local 58 on their picket line in solidarity before continuing to a Labour Day celebration organized by the Toronto & York Region Labour Council at Lamport Stadium.
It is a fitting reminder that Labour Day is more than a long weekend, and the parade is more than a route into the CNE. When Society members participate, we are joining a tradition of workers coming together that stretches back more than 150 years — a tradition rooted in solidarity, collective action and the simple principle that workers stand together.
