This
Labour Day is special for the New Brunswick Federation of Labour because
it's celebrating 100 years of existence having been formed in Saint
John on September 16th, 1913.
Provincial
Labour Federation President Patrick Colford tells Tide News there have
been many battles fought and won since then to improve working
conditions for everyone including Medicare, the 8 hour work day,
vacation pay and parental leave.
Colford
says there are still too many seniors in poverty and growing income
inequality with the backlash in recent years against organised labour.
He
points out unionised workers earn, on average, over 7 dollars more an
hour than those employees who are non-unionised. He estimates, for the
provincial economy, that translates into 26.8 million dollars more each
week.