Labour Day Reflections — Paid With Your Body
When we celebrate Labour Day, I think about what "labour" really looks like in ordinary lives — the work that wears down your hands, your back, and your knees. I’ve done it: picking mushrooms in barns at all hours, picking berries, packing eggs, standing in a turkey processing plant, long nights in an industrial laundry, and early mornings in a bakery.
All of those jobs paid with my body. Wages weren’t the full cost — the real price was the wear and tear on my hands and joints. When your body is wrecked, you don’t have many choices. You go back to school, retrain, and try to find a way that doesn’t break you to pieces.
The Work That Doesn’t Count
Then there’s the work that doesn’t even get counted. Motherhood. Caregiving. Thousands of hours spent raising children, caring for elders, cooking, cleaning — all unpaid. It’s invisible labour that keeps society running.
I know this personally. I raised a child on my own after going to college. Now, at 63, my Canada Pension Plan is only $275 a month. That’s what a lifetime with too much unpaid work and not enough pension contributions looks like.
So many women — especially single mothers — share this reality. Their labour is dismissed as "not real work," but nothing works without it.
Still Fighting — Unions, Power, and the Hidden Work of Industry
Look at flight attendants and pilots: for years, many were only paid for the time a plane was in the air — boarding, safety checks, helping passengers on and off, and gate delays were often unpaid. That hidden work accumulates.
That’s why unions exist. They fought for breaks, safety rules, pensions, and protections. But unions are only as strong as their members. A weak rep and weak participation mean bosses win. And government bodies like human rights commissions can look powerful on paper but often have no teeth when it matters most.
Now companies make things harder: hiring temporary foreign workers to undercut local wages and create divisions among workers. These tactics fracture solidarity and weaken collective bargaining.
Why Labour Day Still Matters
Labour Day isn’t just another holiday. It’s a reminder that every workplace right we take for granted was hard won — and that we must keep fighting. The Air Canada strike over unpaid ground work in 2025 showed that when workers stand together, change can happen. But one victory doesn’t end the struggle. There are still thousands who do invisible, unpaid work or who live with pensions that don’t cover a basic life.
On this Labour Day, I remember the jobs that paid with my body and the unpaid hours that never counted. I remember the strength of unions and the fragility of protections. I remember that real change requires people to stand together and demand better.
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