Labour Day Parade in Toronto

The Labour Day Parade has a long and storied history, which actually honours the name of the holiday itself.

The parade, which should rightly be dubbed a march, is meant to bring attention to current political issues, and fete workers' achievements. The focus this year is on the "Union Advantage"--or how unions uphold fairness for their members in the workplace.

The parade will mark the launch of the ACTRA campaign (which aims to secure reasonable contract terms for its members), and will see arts and cultural workers marching alongside their more corporate counterparts, to demonstrate that they, too, are part of the working class. Also in attendance will be Ken Georgetti, president of the Canadian Labour Congress.

The parade takes place on Monday, September 3rd with a meeting time of 9 a.m., and an official start time of 9:30 a.m, at the corner of Queen St. W. and University Ave. This is the 141st year of the parade, which proceeds throughout the city with the Dufferin gates to the CNE grounds as its end-point. You should definitely expect traffic delays and road closures well into the afternoon.

Last year, Mayor Ford was not invited to attend. What do you think of his chances this year? Will the man pull a last-minute show of solidarity out of his (historically solidarity-bereft) hat?

Photo by sarkerbot in the blogTO Flickr pool