NDP statement on International Workers’ Day

Jagmeet Singh Leader of Canada’s NDP issued the following statement:

“Today we celebrate all workers. We also honour the legacy of those who have fought tirelessly for workers’ rights to provide us with guarantees like a minimum wage, access to pensions and employment security.

In these difficult times, it has been workers and frontline heroes who have kept Canada on track.

But the last two years have exposed the significant precarity still facing Canadian workers. Too many still must risk their lives without paid sick leave, for unacceptable wages, and without access to reliable childcare. Many of these challenges are amplified among women and racialized workers.

We must do more to protect the workers who have powered our communities through this pandemic.

The solution for a better future for workers remains the same as it was a hundred years ago; workers must organize. And they can count on the NDP.

When push comes to shove, Liberals and Conservatives are always taking the side of the big employers and the super-wealthy. They don’t get that it should be easier – not harder – to join a union. Membership in a union is the best way to get better wages, benefits, and health and safety protections. The more there are unionized workers the more our entire economy is better off.

Using our power in parliament, New Democrats have ensured that 10 days of paid sick leave for all federally regulated workers will start as soon as possible. We’ve also pushed the government to agree to introduce legislation by the end of 2023 to prohibit the use of replacement workers, 'scabs,' when a union employer in a federally regulated industry has locked out employees or is in a strike.

On this May Day, I reiterate our commitment to workers to always be on their side and to keep fighting for them at every opportunity. Together, we can build a better future for all workers.’’