For Jim Sharp, Sarnia’s annual Labor Day parade is about connection.
For Jim Sharp, Sarnia’s annual Labor Day parade is about connection.
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“Connecting with people, people you don’t know, people you recognize but now we know what union they belong to,” said the long-time parade participant and former Sarnia and District Labor Council member.
“That’s what unions do is they build a community … with each other, and a community within the larger extent of keeping things on the straight and narrow,” said the former Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) Local 125 member at Lambton College.
Sharp said he’s stayed involved in the parade even after retiring nine years ago.
“This day allows everyone to come together as one,” he said, “to be seen as one union, as one group.”
The annual tradition in Sarnia since 1902, minus one absence in 2021 because of pandemic-related public gathering restrictions, again Monday featured local unions marching up Front Street as part of 34 entries and about 3,000 parade participants, said labor council president Nick Dochstader.
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“It’s an opportunity for the community to get together and recognize the people that build our city and our community,” said Dochstader, also a member of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 530.
Sarnia-Lambton’s connections to labor are strong, he said.
“And I think that’s a fantastic relationship.”
Rebecca Kerrigan was among those watching the parade Monday.
Her brother was marching with the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) Local 1590, and her father with Ironworkers Local 700, she said.
“Every year, we come to support and watch … just celebrating them and all the hard work they do for the community and everyone,” she said.
Sarnia Coun. Chrissy McRoberts, one of the parade awards judges this year, said the day reminds her of Christmas.
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“Everyone is happy,” she said.
This year’s theme was Organizing for Powera nod to the strategy that includes talking and organizing with rank-and-file members, identifying specific concerns and committing to action to make change, labor council member Michele LaLonge-Davey has said.
The labor climate in Sarnia-Lambton has been generally good recently, Dochstader said, recalling some building trades were on strike three years ago.
Job action this year included LCBO workers and OPSEU members, he said, though none were present to head the parade this year.
Space is reserved every year for workers who’ve been through job action, Dochstader said.
“Of course, we want to see a fair deal any time you come to the bargaining table,” he said.
“Unfortunately sometimes that results in job action.”
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