Today is International Workers’ Day. It’s a time to celebrate workers and stand up for their rights.
For years, workers have been squeezed by corporate greed, the rising cost of living, and a vanishing middle class. But today, they face a new threat: tariffs and trade barriers.
It’s fair for any country to protect its borders and fight for good jobs. That’s true for the United States, and it’s true for Canada. Workers everywhere share the same frustration when companies shut down and jobs are shipped away.
Today’s tariffs may be new, but the real problem is not: corporate greed, and the CEOs willing to sacrifice any job for another dollar.
Tariffs won’t protect jobs or help working people. But they will raise costs on just about everything. A tariff is a tax paid by workers, not foreign governments.
That being said, unrestricted free trade won’t help workers either. What we need is fair trade between countries that respect union rights, protect workers, and pay decent wages.
Workers around the world have more in common with each other than with the powerful few who profit from our division and exploitation.
This May Day, we call for fair trade, strong unions, better wages, and a future where no one is left behind — not by tariffs, not by trade wars, and not by greed.
The war on workers is alive and well. The trade war is just another front. But our answer is the same as it has always been: solidarity!
Happy International Workers’ Day.
François Laporte
President of Teamsters Canada
Vice President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters
