May 1 is International Workers’ Day, also known as May Day, when millions of workers around the world take to the streets and organize in their workplaces to demonstrate our collective strength.
On May Day this year, workers in community health and social services are taking a historic stand a as part of our Worth Fighting For campaign.
Worth Fighting For is uniting workers across the broader public sector to secure the wages stolen from them by Doug Ford’s unconstitutional Bill 124 and increase investments in critical services supporting the most vulnerable communities in Ontario.
Workers and communities have faced cut after cut from the Ford government. OPSEU/SEFPO members will not accept a system of governance whose apparent intention is to decimate the public sector, trample on workers, and pit community against community.
We are coming together as one big union – with over 200,000 members across the province – and will fight for more.
This May Day, OPSEU/SEFPO commemorates the historic sacrifices made by our trade union predecessors and recommits to carry forward working-class struggles for justice by ensuring that no one is left behind.
The history of May Day serves as an important reminder of the central role of immigrant workers in building our labour movement – and the need to oppose all forms of racist and xenophobic scapegoating in our communities today.
International Workers’ Day emerged as a commemoration of the massacre of demonstrators by police at Haymarket Square in Chicago in 1886, where thousands of predominantly immigrant workers rallied in support of an eight-hour workday.
Recalling this history of leadership from immigrant workers, in 2006 migrant justice organizers began workplace walkouts and demonstrations in the United States and Canada on May Day. Organized under the banner of “A Day Without Immigrants”, these actions illustrated the essential role played by migrants in our national economies.
Take part in International Workers’ Day celebrations, events, and rallies in your community: https://ofl.ca/events/
People in the Greater Toronto Area are invited to attend events organized by the Mayworks Festival of Working People and the Arts, starting on 1 May and continuing throughout the month of May: https://mayworks.ca/2026-festival/