The last long weekend of the summer is upon us. It will be a time for family and friends to enjoy some warm weather, hearty cheer and probably too much food.
Many people will also take the opportunity to get prepared for fall. Whether it’s closing down the cottage or settling things up around home, this weekend ironically means work of some sort.
Labour Day Monday is a benefit to all Canadians as a result of the efforts of organized labour.
Over decades, through improvements to pay plans, working hours, the introduction of benefits and pensions, unionized workers have helped themselves as well as fellow Canadians. This truth should be respected, even by many Canadians who tend to think of unions as relics of the past.
Like most things that get debated, there are extreme positions and the satisfying spot in the middle where many of us can see both sides of an issue. We do believe in simple math, meaning expenses have to respect the revenue sources at hand.
A few years back we put some chickens in the barn as a little dad-and-daughter business project. We haven’t yet got to the point of keeping a set of books on the henhouse, but the rewards of doing chores and seeing revenue are lessons well enough learned at a young age. The most surprising moral coming out of this venture actually happened on a soccer field that summer. The coach was making small talk at the bench and asked our daughter’s name and she replied “My name is Chloe, and I sell eggs.”
At the time we were a little shy at such a disclosure. To be sure, we aren’t egg farmers and the proceeds hardly amount to $5 a week, but looking back, it qualifies as one of those out-of-the-mouths-of-babes moments. Most people identify who they are with what they do.
Workers of every stripe, organized within a union or not, certainly know who they are and what they do. Frankly it matters little to us whether a person is a doctor, lawyer, farmer, labourer, janitor or shop steward; everyone should have pride in their work.
We’re so lucky to live in a country where we can work and live freely.
