About | Toronto Labour May Day

Formed in 2020, the Labour May Day Committee (LMDC) organizes Toronto's annual, political rally for May Day. Our united-front alliance joins trade unions, socialist groups, and other organizations committed to the liberation of oppressed people. Over the years our labour endorsers have included CUPW National, the OFL, OPSEU, CUPE Ontario, PSAC Ontario, various labour councils and dozens of locals.

May Day is International Workers' Day. Founded by the Socialist International in 1889, the hundredth anniversary of the French Revolution, May Day grew out of the struggle for the eight-hour day - a revolutionary demand at a time when the standard work day could be 16 hours or more. May 1 was marked around the world by workers' protests and, when the date fell during the week, wildcat strikes. The motto of the movement was "workers of the world unite".

By the 1920s, experiences of war and revolution led the core of the international labour movement to recognize that the main obstacle to workers' unity was imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism, where a small club of wealthy nations held down and exploited the rest. Genuine unity of workers was not possible so long as some in the rich countries tolerated or even benefited from the degradation of their siblings and comrades elsewhere. The cause of labour became inseparable from the cause of liberation of oppressed nations. "Workers of the world unite" became "workers of the world and oppressed peoples unite" - the banner slogan of the Labour May Day Committee today.

Over the years, the employing class and its kept governments moved to co-opt May Day. In many parts of the world, May 1 became a statutory holiday, making mass wildcats impossible. In the U.S. and Canada, 'Labour Day' was officialized as an establishment-backed, flag-waving alternative to May Day. Within North America it is only Quebec, whose labour movement is steeled by generations of resistance to national oppression, that May 1 has long been a day of widespread mobilization by organized labour.

The LMDC builds on this history of mass mobilization and job action and seeks the endorsement and financial support of unions, other labour organizations, and organizers for liberation of oppressed peoples. Beyond this affiliation, we invite all of the above to join under the banner of "Workers of the World and Oppressed Peoples Unite" by participating in our democratic decision-making at general membership meetings, contributing labour to postering and leafleting campaigns, and mobilizing your forces in the streets come May Day.