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Labour Day will provide an online birthday present for New Brunswick workers – a new Web site that highlights the history of work and unions in the province.

The site was developed to make the history of work and labour in New Brunswick over the past century more accessible to students, faculty and the general public.

It includes information about landmarks in New Brunswick labour history, Acadian history, women’s work and the changing work environment in the province.

“New Brunswick workers have been marking Labour Day in various ways since 1894, so this seemed to be the right time to present some of our results to the public,” said project director David Frank, a history professor at the University of New Brunswick (UNB) in Fredericton.

“As our research continues, the site will continue to grow, but it now has a variety of stories that will interest workers, students, teachers, researchers and members of the public.”

In addition to the main features, the site includes several blogs, including one on the topic of summer wages that encourages students to write about their summer jobs.

Another blog focuses on the challenge of pay equity for New Brunswick workers.

The Web site is an excellent teaching tool and will provide a wide range of information about labour history in the province such as:

– When was the New Brunswick Federation of Labour established, and who was its first president?

– Who was the first Acadian to serve as president of the New Brunswick Federation of Labour?

– Why is there a large public monument to workers on the wharf at Escuminac?

– How did the First World War affect the experience of rural farmers in New Brunswick?

– When was the New Brunswick Nurses Union formed and why? – Why did three children lose their lives in a New Brunswick coal mine in 1932?

– Why do New Brunswick workers mark April 28 every year?

These and other questions can be answered by visiting the New Brunswick Labour History Web site at www.lhtnb.ca.

The site is presented in both official languages and includes background stories, illustrations and documents.

Teachersareinvitedtousethelessonplansthatareprovided on topics related to the school curriculum. There is also an online bibliography and regular reports on activities of the research team. Users are invited to help identify plaques, monuments and other labour landmarks and to make other suggestions regarding content for the Web site.

Researchers at UNB and the l’Université de Moncton worked in partnership with the province’s union organizations and heritage institutions to create the site.

The Web site is part of the project Re-Connecting with the History of Labour in New Brunswick, which is supported by the Community-University Research Alliance program of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.