Posted: Tuesday, 1 September 2009

Unions and workers in Canada were celebrating Labour Day decades before it was a national holiday for the first time on September 4, 1894. Over the past 115 years, working people around the world mark either the first of May or the first Monday of September as a day to celebrate their economic and social achievements. Canadians have always had much to be proud of.

Not all of the past 115 years have been good ones for Canadian workers. There have been more than a few Labour Day weekends during times of war, social unrest, epidemics and economic collapse. Years when working people were counting their blessings instead of their accomplishments.

This is one of those years for many Canadians. The crisis in world financial markets caused by sheer corporate greed triggered a global recession. Industries that until recently formed the core of many local economies collapsed under the stress. More than half a million Canadians had their jobs taken away from them in the past year. Countless more saw years of hard-earned savings vanish as the stock market deflated and companies went bankrupt. Working people ended up paying the price for an economic crisis they did nothing to create.

To add insult to injury, one of Canada's leading economic recovery tools, the Employment Insurance Program, simply wasn't there for the thousands of workers who found themselves unemployed month after month. The same program that generated more than $50 billion in surplus for the federal government – which it spent on corporate tax cuts when times were good – could only provide benefits to less than half of the unemployed. Most were left to fend for themselves, many after paying for EI protection, pay cheque after pay cheque for months, sometimes years.

The economic storm that hit our country last year exposed some dangerous cracks. This past spring, a leading bank economist confirmed what many of us had suspected for many years. Most of us simply do not, and are simply unlikely to have enough money saved to support ourselves in retirement.

Despite two generations of aggressive market promotion and very generous tax policy, many Canadians do not contribute to RRSPs. The median amount in RRSPs for those nearing retirement today is only $60,000 or enough to pay an annuity of just $250 a month.

The reality is that over 60% of working Canadians don't have a workplace pension plan. They rely on the Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security, and whatever they can save for themselves – and those savings are woefully unprotected and exposed to the kind of corporate irresponsibility that triggered this latest economic crisis.

People contribute to their own pensions, year after year, but our bankruptcy laws don’t adequately protect workers’ benefits when their companies go into bankruptcy protection.

That is just wrong. And Canadians think so too. The “fend for yourself” approach to retirement savings, unemployment and skills training has failed too many of us. It's time to change some things.

We can fix EI so it works the way it was always supposed to and change the rules so people who are self employed, work part-time or on contract are not left out in the cold.

It's also time to change the way we all plan for retirement. Working people need to know that they can save enough money over a lifetime of work to avoid living their last years in poverty. It's time for an insurance plan to guarantee retirement security for everyone. It's also time to invest more into proven programs like the Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security instead of tax cuts that only help the banks make more money by selling faulty products to people.

As you enjoy the Labour Day long weekend this year, take a moment to think about the 500,000 Canadians who lost their jobs. Think about all the others who had their retirement dreams taken away. Remember what caused this to happen and ask yourself if you think Canada can afford to go back to “business as usual” or if the time has come to change some things.

If we make those changes, the Labour Days to come will once more be times to celebrate our accomplishments rather than to simply count our blessings.

Happy Labour Day!