The Labour Day long weekend we enjoy every September wasn’t a gift from the government. It was fought for, paid for, and won by everyday workers who refused to back down.
Today, as more than 100,000 members of the PSAC Program and Administrative Services (PA) group navigate a deeply frustrating round of negotiations with the Treasury Board, that history isn’t just a story from the past, it is our blueprint for the present.
The origins of Canadian Labour Day trace back to the historic 1872 Toronto Printers’ Strike. Members of the Toronto Typographical Union walked off the job to demand a 9-hour workday. At the time, striking was considered a “criminal conspiracy” under Canadian law.
Twenty-four labour leaders were arrested and jailed simply for organizing. Yet, their defiance forced Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald to pass the Trade Union Act, decriminalizing unions and paving the way for the modern right to organize and strike.
Let’s be clear: Macdonald didn’t do it because it was the right thing to do. He did it because the immense pressure from the working class gave him no choice. He saw the political writing on the wall and acted out of pure self-preservation.
Those workers in 1872 faced jail time so that we could have a voice today. It’s time to use it.
Our PA bargaining team has been locked in a gruelling effort to secure a fair contract since our last agreement expired in June 2025. Just as employers in 1872 flatly refused to acknowledge changing economic realities, today’s Treasury Board is playing from the exact same outdated playbook.
In May, the employer tabled an insulting wage offer that amounts to less than 1% per year: 2.0% in 2025, and a meager 0.5% annually from 2026 through 2028. With the soaring cost of food, housing, and everyday essentials, this proposal is a direct request for public service workers to accept a massive, real-dollar pay cut.
The Treasury Board is dragging this out. However, our union successfully pushed the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board to bypass the lengthy Public Interest Commission (PIC) process, shaving 6-8 months off the timeline. Our next major milestones are the third-party mediation dates scheduled for September 21–22 and 29–30.
As one of your bargaining team members at the table, I can tell you firsthand: power doesn’t just come from the negotiators in the room. The real power comes from you, the members on the ground.
History proves that the government will only negotiate with us as far as it serves their political interests. They do not act out of the goodness of their hearts; they act when they realize that ignoring us will cost them votes, poll margins, and public support. They need to see that keeping up these stale tactics will have a real, disruptive impact.
When you participate in the National Days of Solidarity by wearing black and pack into Bargaining town halls, management takes notice. They are watching us constantly, and their willingness to compromise will rise and fall in exact lockstep with the pressure we impose upon them.
Rights are like muscles: if you don’t exercise them, they atrophy. The printers of 1872 won because they stood up against an intimidating employer and refused to flinch.
We are at a defining crossroads. The Treasury Board wants to see if we will quietly fold under pressure, or if we have the backbone of those who marched before us.
Let’s remind this government who keeps this country running. Put on the black, show up to the town halls, and let’s turn up the heat. Our predecessors risked prison for our rights; the least we can do is stand up, speak out, and demand the fair contract we earned.
They are watching. Let’s give them something to see. Solidarity forever!
Gurinder Dev
UVAE NHR team member
UVAE RVP Western Region
PA Bargaining Team member