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Canada

Some issues in Canada regarding labour commemoriation include the provincial versus federal histories of trade unions and labour, as well as race and intersectionality with labour. 

Federal and Provincial Labour Histories

As the second-largest country in the world, Canada's labour history can be understood at the provincial level and/or the federal level: which events in labour history are provincially distinct, and which are remembered Canada-wide?

British Columbia: An Untold History

Crossing the Country

How are we commemorating moments of trans-Canada worker mobility? Here, juxtaposing Catch the Westbound Train and the BC Labour Heritage On to Ottawa Trek virtual tour.

Race and Labour

How are Canadian commemorative efforts addressing the role the labour movement has played in anti-immigrant rhetoric? Here, the 360 Riotwalk Virtual Tour regarding the 1907 riots in Vancouver, British Columbia.

360º Riotwalk Virtual Tour by Henry Tsang

How does Canada commemorate workers of colour, especially those who have been marginalized from unions?

Derailed: The History of Black Railway Porters in Canada by Myseum of Toronto

Temporary Foreign Workers

The Alberta Labour History Institute (Canada), in partnership with Migrante Alberta, have raised awareness of the injustices faced by temporary foreign workers who experience unsafe and illegal conditions in Canada's meat-packing industry. Their campaigns highlighted how temporary foreign workers in the health care industry experienced unequal access to health care and government benefits while they worked to protect Canadians from the worst impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Maria Dunn's song, "Essential", draws attention to both the strength and vulnerability of temporary foreign workers. 

Dunn's song also relates to Guthrie's song, "Deportee". "Deportee" is about Mexican farmworkers killed in a plane crash en route between the U.S. and Mexico; the American media simply labelled them as "deportees", with no further details. 

Both songs highlight the family connections of the workers, yet their disposability to their employers and the state.

Learn more about ALHI's work

Commemorating Union Formation

What are the issues involved in commemorating specific unions? What's the relationship between the union and the historian?  

Future directions

Areas of future and further research: considering Indigenous labour in residential schools from a labour history perspective.