Happy Labour Day: Workers’ Power Is the Answer to the New Gilded Age

By Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress 

Happy Labour Day. Today, we celebrate the power of workers — past, present, and future. It was workers who won weekends, universal health care, pensions, unemployment insurance, parental leave, pay equity, and health and safety laws. And it will be workers who win the next generation of rights, protections, and fairness. 

This year gave us a powerful reminder of that truth. Just hours after Air Canada flight attendants began their strike, Prime Minister Carney tried to crush it by invoking Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code — at the behest of Air Canada’s CEO. This Trump-style attack on workers is not what Canadians expect from their newly elected Prime Minister.  

But CUPE flight attendants knew their rights. They defied the order, forced Air Canada back to the bargaining table, and bargained a deal. The lesson is clear: workers will not and should not be taken for granted. 

This victory comes at a critical moment — because inequality in Canada is beginning to look like it did during the first Gilded Age more than a century ago. Back then, a handful of robber barons hoarded unimaginable wealth while workers endured 12-hour shifts in unsafe factories, living in poverty with little protection and no voice. Governments bent to corporate power, and working people paid the price. 

Today, we see similar patterns. The richest 100 CEOs in Canada now make 243 times more than the average worker. Grocery giants are posting record profits while families cut back on food. Oil and gas companies are pocketing billions while Canadians struggle with heating bills. Banks make excessive profits while workers struggle with high interest rates. And public services — the very tools that make life affordable and fair — are under attack from government austerity. 

The parallels with the Gilded Age are chilling: extreme concentration of wealth, corporations writing the rules, and politicians rigging the system in favour of employers and against workers. 

But history also teaches us how to break this cycle. The antidote to runaway greed has always been the same: unions. In the last Gilded Age, it was workers organizing and building solidarity that won health and safety laws, shorter work hours, weekends, pensions, and the foundation of Canada’s public services. Every gain was won by workers standing together and forcing change. 

Today, the solution is no different. We need more unions. We need to organize harder. We need stronger worker power so that no government dares to trample on our rights again, and no corporation can treat workers as disposable while handing out huge bonuses to their executives. Because when workers join together, we don’t just win for ourselves — we lift entire communities. We strengthen public services. We build fairer economies. We create a more just society. 

This Labour Day, let’s not just look back at past victories. Let’s look forward. Let’s commit to organizing in the face of corporate greed. Let’s commit to growing the labour movement, defending free collective bargaining, and building worker power strong enough to end this new Gilded Age once and for all. 

Happy Labour Day. Workers together, we’re organizing. Together, we’re mobilizing. Together, we’re building the future workers deserve.