MONTREAL – The first of May is marked as International’s Workers’ Day – a time to celebrate workers and their rights.
In honour of the special day, thousands of Quebecers took to the streets of Montreal’s Plateau-Mont-Royal borough to send a message to the Quebec government.
“Listen to us,” said Danielle Legault, from the Quebec Service Employee’s Union.
“We love our province, we want it to work properly, we want decent wages for everybody. Work is important, that’s what makes our economy roll. So if we want to make sure it keeps going, we have to increase wages and people need to have dignity in the work they do.”
As of May 1, the minimum wage is going from $10.55 up to $10.75 an hour.
However, many union groups insist the 20 cent increase is just not enough.
The Quebec Federation of Labour used the May Day march to launch its campaign — Fight for 15.
They, along with dozens of other organizations, are pushing the province to increase its minimum wage to $15 an hour.
Union leaders say too many working Quebecers have trouble paying their bills.
“It’s an important fight,” Berlin said. “It’s lifting people out of poverty, it’s taking people off welfare rolls and giving people a decent standard of living.”
Some demonstrators also explain they’re still fighting for better working conditions.
“Even if the bargaining part of the public sector are ending,” said Daniel Lafrenière from Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ). “We still have to fight for conditions.”