Prince George's first Labour Day march was much a celebration of past union achievements as it was a call on workers to get even more active.
A lineup of speakers spoke of sacrifices at the steps of city hall Monday to a crowd of several hundred after a morning march through downtown.
"We've had to stick together and we've had to resolve to make some sacrifices in our generation so that the generations coming after us can benefit from those," said Aaron Eckman, secretary treasurer of the BC Federation of Labour. "Everything that we benefit from now today - whether it's paid maternity, whether it's sick time, whether it's a weekend, even if it's today, Labour Day - wasn't just given to us because somebody thought it was a good idea from up from high. It was given to us because we fought like hell to get it and then we had to fight like hell to keep it."
Eckman's call for a $15 minimum wage prompted the loudest applause from the receptive audience.
"The biggest challenge that our generation faces is this growing level of income inequality," said Eckman, adding half a million British Columbians sit under the $15 hourly wage mark. "A quarter of the workforce in this province are making under poverty wages...They have a full-time job and they still can't make ends meet. That's a problem."
B.C.'s minimum wage sits at $10.45 an hour and on Sept. 15 that will increase to $10.85.
Like many of the speakers Don Iwaskow, president of the North Central Labour Council, which organized Monday's event, praised unions calling them " "a voice in the workplace."
The chair of the Stand Up for the North Committee invoked the theme of the inaugural march - past, present and future - for his speech.
"We as a labour movement have a past to be proud of," said Peter Ewart. "We have fought for the eight-hour work day and child labour laws, labour rights, higher wages and benefits, paid overtime," he said, before listing a host of others."
But his speech became a warning.
"Today there are forces in big business and government that want to roll back many of labour's achievements and they've made some headway, including eroding our rights as workers, attacking unions, undermining public health, education and social services, breaking collective agreements as with teachers," Ewart said.
The event was organized by more than 30 volunteers, with support from 18 unions, and was family-friendly with a bouncy castle and long lines for the free food.
Several councillors came for the festivities, including Terri McConnachie, who said the day was about celebrating working people's contributions to economy and society.
"The history of the labour movement is one of steadfast uniting of working people, fighting for what are essentially basic human rights in the workplace," she said.
