(The following article is from the May 16-31,  2010 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)

PV Vancouver Bureau

     The turnouts varied from city to city, but May 1 was marked across the country by the labour movement and its allies as part of the world-wide actions for May Day.

     The biggest rally drew an estimated 25,000 trade union members and supporters in Montreal. The demonstration included thousands of public sector workers, united in a Common Front to win a new contract with the Charest government of Quebec. Carrying flags and balloons, music blaring from speakers on a truck, the marchers went to Marguerite Bourgeoys Park, where they paid homage to late Quebec union leader Michel Chartrand.

     The protesters condemned the health-care user fees and cuts in the public service in the recent Quebec budget.

     "We're against any kind of user fees," said Régine Laurent, president of the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec, representing 58,000 nurses. "Studies around the world prove that, as soon as there is an obligation for citizens to pay for health-care services, it's obviously the poorest who are most penalized."

     Teachers at the rally attacked the Charest government for failing on its promise of smaller class sizes, and for imposing bureaucratic rules that take time away from teaching.

     Some of the 250 Journal de Montréal reporters, photographers, copy editors and office workers, now in their 16th month of a lock-out, marched near the front of the rally.

     Thousands were in the streets of Toronto on May 1, drawing attention to the attacks against refugees and immigrant workers in Canada. The solidarity group No One Is Illegal was joined by a wide range of trade unions for the demonstration. "We've seen a further dismantling of an already broken immigration refugee system," said Faria Kamal, one of the organizers. "We're here today to speak out against it and fight back."

     Smaller actions took place in several other cities. In Winnipeg, over 200 people made their way from city hall down Main Street, then circling through downtown to Old Market Square, with chants such as "the people, united, will never be defeated." The day's theme - Equal Rights, Equal Opportunities, Progress for all - highlighted the struggle for women's rights.

     Vancouver's May Day march along Commercial Drive, the first in six years to be organized by the city's Labour Council, drew about 500 participants. The march finished up with a rally at Grandview Park, where retired Longshore union activist Dave Lomas spoke on the union's June 19 commemoration of the 1935 "Battle of Ballantyne Pier," a turning point in the Vancouver labour movement. Other speakers included B.C. Communist Party leader Sam Hammond and Vancouver school trustee Jane Bouey.

     Later there was an evening social event, with greetings from two members of the Cuban Women's Federation who have been touring British Columbia. BC Federation of Labour President Jim Sinclair and VDLC President Bill Saunders both gave powerful speeches condemning the attacks on workers' rights by governments and corporations.