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I came to labour as a hotel worker, and learned early Q: What are some important milestones achieved
on that immigrant workers needed to stand together by the Council that still positively impact members
for dignity and decent conditions in the hospitality today?
sector. As a larger proportion of the workforce is A: We have always been about shared prosperity.
now in frontline service jobs, that experience helps In its earliest decades, the Labour Council built
guide my leadership. campaigns for employment standards, sanitary
conditions, limitation of working hours, and equal
Over the last two years, we have witnessed pay for women. It also called for public ownership
the unequal impacts of the pandemic on these of essential infrastructure and the creation of the
industries and on the daily lives of workers and their publicly-owned Toronto Transit Commission, which
families. Our Labour Council community recognizes turned one hundred years old this year. Many of
that some of us are hurting worse than others, and the benefits Canadians take for granted—public
that the pandemic recovery is going to take all of us. healthcare, old age pensions, social services, and
The Labour Council and workers across Toronto and paid maternity leave—were the product of workplace
York Region are rising up for a just recovery to come victories that were then turned into public programs
out of this pandemic stronger than before. for all. The Labour Council continues to fight for
Historical Labour Day Ironworkers.
46 FEB 2022 | BUSINESS ELITE CANADA
