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By Michel Boudreau, president, New Brunswick Federation of Labour

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First of all, I would like to extend my warmest greetings to all my fellow brothers and sisters on this Labour Day 2008.

Organized labour is still fighting hard to obtain dignity, respect and a standard of living suitable for all workers of New Brunswick. The enormous contributions made to our society by unions must be recognized.

The New Brunswick Federation of Labour (NBFL) held a mid-term conference in April; our theme was Fighting for our Communities. Important issues were discussed, mainly the Atlantica Project: Public Private Partnerships, the exportation of forestry and manufacturing jobs and their impact on workers, their families and our communities.

I would also like to highlight the success of the eighth NBFL Youth Camp, which took place Aug. 4 to 8, and I congratulate the 20 youth participants for their enthusiasm and their active participation.

We are extremely concerned that, at the end of the day, when women go to work, they get paid less than men. There is a persistent myth that "women are equal in Canada." It is not true and the labour movement dares to talk honestly about women's economic inequality. It is totally unacceptable that women still earn only 70 cents for every dollar earned by men.

In order to repair this injustice, we need a higher minimum wage, a pay equity legislation for both the public and private sectors, universal and affordable childcare, "Buy Canadian" policies and other government actions to mitigate the job losses in manufacturing and forestry and a halt to the privatization of services to people.

We are also concerned about the Tax Reform being proposed by the provincial government. In our submission to the Select Committee on Tax Review, we denounced that the people who stand to lose the most by this reform are the workers, people on low income and people living on a fixed income. By raising the HST and by introducing a carbon tax, these people will pay for the income tax cut to businesses and high-income earners. We asked the provincial government to maintain a progressive tax system by rejecting the proposed tax reform.

The provincial government also tabled, last spring, the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission's Independent Review's Report entitled Strengthening the System. The NBFL has many concerns over this review and over the report. In short, both the review and the report have been totally bad for workers. Health and safety will continue to be a priority for our members.

The NBFL will also continue to prioritize important issues for all of us. We must have pay equity legislation; we must have a public and accessible childcare service. We must have better labour legislation for all workers such as first contract arbitration, anti-scab legislation and protection of casual workers.

In conclusion, I would like to wish, to all the citizens of New Brunswick, a good and safe Labour Day.

Remember: unions offer important protection to their members!

Let us be proud of our heritage and our union solidarity!