In 1872, members of the Toronto Typographical Union went on strike to secure a nine-hour workday. Their fight ultimately ended the laws that made union activity a criminal offence and ushered in a new era of workers’ rights.
In the years following the strike, workers across the country celebrated their success, paving the way for the Canadian government to declare Labour Day a national holiday in 1894.
130 years later, we find ourselves at an equally transformative moment in history, as the nature of work – where and how we do it – is undergoing a generational shift. And we face a similar wall of resistance.
Our fight today
This year has demonstrated that our employer holds very little regard for its own labour force. The announcement that our remote work rights were being rolled back to force public sector employees back to ill-equipped offices was the death knell for what little goodwill remained. With the ongoing Phoenix fiasco, the Canada Life disaster, and continuing threats to interpreters’ health and safety, trust in our employer has irreparably fractured.
Flexibility and remote work are here and are indisputably the way of the future. Yet our employer is trying to force us backwards instead of embracing progress. To bring about the change we want to see, we need to collectively harness the spirit of those Toronto union members of 1872. Their unrelenting push for a modernized workplace model is the foundation for every labour gain that has been realized in the century and a half since then – and the roadmap for what we need today. There are new tools at our disposal – keyboards and phone calls – but the message remains the same: we won’t back down.
We are committed to winning remote work rights. But it won’t happen without action.
Solidarity on September 9
For those in the National Capital Region, on September 9, the first day of the three-day in-office mandate, join other members of CAPE, ACFO, PIPSC and PSAC at an 8 a.m. rally in front of the IRCC building at 365 Laurier Ave. In one voice, we will let our employer know that we’ve reached the point of no return.
To everyone who has already signed petitions, written letters or rallied your coworkers, great work! This is how we will force change. To anyone who hasn’t yet gotten involved – it’s not too late. Check out our website to see how you can join the calls to demand the government reverse the return-to-office mandate.
Even when our employer doesn’t show up for us, we show up for Canadians. And we will continue to do so, even as we demand better. Standing in solidarity and united in action, we will win a remote work rights and a more equitable future for federal employees and workers everywhere.
In solidarity,
Nathan Prier
